3  C  R  K  E  [.  2  Y 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

CALIFORNIA 

v- 

EAXTH 

SCIENCES 

UBxARY 


GEMS 


AND 


PRECIOUS  STONES 


OF 


NORTH    AMERICA 


A  POPULAR  DESCRIPTION 


OF  THEIR  OCCURRENCE,  VALUE,  HISTORY, 
ARCHAEOLOGY,  AND  OF  THE  COLLECTIONS  IN 
WHICH  THEY  EXIST,  ALSO  A  CHAPTER  ON 
PEARLS  AND  ON  REMARKABLE  FOREIGN 
GEMS  OWNED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  . 


ILLUSTRATED 


BY 

GEORGE   FREDERICK   KUNZ 

GEM  EXPERT  WITH  MESSRS.  TIFFANY  &  CO.,  SPECIAL 
AGENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 
AND  OF  THE  ELEVENTH  UNITED  STATES  CENSUS,  MEM- 
BER OF  THE  MINERALOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  GREAT 
BRITAIN  AND  IRELAND,  THE  IMPERIAL  MINERALOGICAL 
SOCIETY  OF  ST.  PETERSBURG,  THE  SOCIETft  FRANfAISE 
DE  MINERALOGIB,  ETC 


NEW  YORK 

THE  SCIENTIFIC  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


MDCCCXC 


EARTH 

SCIENCES 

UBRARY 


COPYRIGHT,    1890 
BY  THE  SCIENTIFIC  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


CILLI8S    BROTHERS    4    TURNURE 

ART    AQE    PRESS 
400    4    402    WEST    14TH  STREET,  N.  Y. 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


COLORED    PLATES 

PLATE  i.  PAGE 
A,  D,  Cut  Sapphire,  El  Dorado  Bar,  near  Helena, 
Mont.;  B,  Dewey  Diamond  found  in  1855,  near 
Manchester,  Va.;  C,  Natural  Crystal  of  Sapphire, 
El  Dorado  Bar,  Mont;  E,  Section  of  Sapphire 
Crystal,  banded  blue  and  yellow,  Jenks  Mine, 
Macon  County,  N.  C.  (American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  New  York  City)  ;  F,  Asteriated 
Sapphire,  Jackson  County,  N.  C.;  G,  Ruby,  Jenks 
Mine,  Macon  County,  N.  C.;  H,  First  Sapphire 
found  in  the  United  States,  from  Corundum  Hill, 
Macon  County,  N.  C.  Restored  to  matrix  after 
being  cut.  (American  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory, New  York  City) 16 


PLATE  2. 

A,  Holy  Toad  of  the  Zuni  Indians,  Clam-shell  in- 
crusted  with  turquoise  and  shell  (Hemenway  Ex- 
pedition Collection)  ;  B,  Turquoise  in  rock,  Los 
Cerrillos,  N.  M.;  C,  Turquoise  in  rock,  Humboldt, 


11.  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PLATE  2.  PAGE 
Nev.;    D,    Cyanite,  Seven  Mile  Ridge,   Mitchell 
County,    N.   C.;    E,   Shell    Ring  inlaid  with  tur- 
quoise and  shell  (Hemenway  Expedition  Collec- 
tion)        60 

PLATE  3. 

A,  Natural  Garnet  Pebble  found  near  Fort  Defi- 
ance, Ariz.;  B,  Garnet  found  near  Gallup,  N.  M.; 
C,  Peridot,  Fort  Defiance,  Ariz.;  D,  E,  Natural 
Pebbles  of  Peridot  called  "Job's  Tears,"  found 
near  Gallup,  N.  M.;  F,  Spessartite  Garnet,  Ame- 
lia Court  House,  Va.  (American  Museum  of  Nat- 
ural History,  New  York  City)  ;  G,  H,  I,  J,  Arrow- 
points  of  chalcedony,  carnelian,  obsidian,  and  jas- 
per, Columbia  River,  Ore.;  K,  Crystal  of  Topaz, 
Cheyenne  Mountain,  Colorado  (American  Museum 
of  Natural  History,  New  York  City)  ;  L,  Almandite 
Garnet  Crystal,  Fort  Wrangel,  Stickeen  River, 
Alaska ;  M,  Chlorastrolite,  Isle  Royale,  Lake  Su- 
perior (Lynde  Collection)  ;  N,  Topaz,  Cheyenne 
Mountain,  Col.  .....  65 

PLATE  4. 

A,  Blue  Tourmaline  (indicolite),  Mount  Mica,  Me. 
(New  York  State  Cabinet)  ;  B,  White  Tourma- 
line (achroite),  De  Kalb,  St.  Lawrence  County, 
N.  Y.;  C,  White  Tourmaline  (achroite),  Mount 
Mica,  Paris,  Me.;  D,  Red  Tourmaline  (rubellite), 
Mount  Mica,  Paris,  Me.;  E,  Green  Tourmaline, 
Mount  Mica,  Paris,  Me.;  F,  Crystal  of  Tourma- 
line, Mount  Mica,  Paris,  Me.  (Hamlin  Collec- 
tion) ;  G,  Section  of  a  Crystal  of  Tourmaline 
from  Mount  Mica,  Paris,  Me.,  showing  a  red  and 
white  centre  with  green  exterior;  H,  Section  of 
Crystal  of  Tourmaline  from  Mount  Mica,  Paris, 
Me.,  showing  dark  blue  and  pink  centre  with 
white  exterior 72 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  111. 

PLATE  5.  PAGE 

A,  Lithia  Emerald,  Stony  Point,  Alexander  County, 
N.  C;  B,  Golden  colored  Beryl,  Litchfield  County, 
Conn.;  C,  Crystal  of  Aquamarine,  Mount  Antero, 
Chaffee  County,  Col.;  D,  Azurite  and  Malachite 
in  concentric  bands,  Morenci,  Ariz.  (American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York  City) ; 
E,  H,  Crystals  of  Emerald,  Stony  Point,  Alex- 
ander County,  N.  C.  (Bement  Collection) ;  F, 
Amazonstone  (microcline),  Pike's  Peak,  Col.,  one- 
fifth  natural  size  (New  York  State  Cabinet)  ;  G, 
Cut  Aquamarine,  Stoneham,  Oxford  County,  Me. 
(Dexter  Collection) 88 

PLATE  6. 

A,  B,  Cut  Amethyst,  Deer  Hill,  Stow,  Me.;  C,  Group 
of  Amethyst  Crystals,  Upper  Providence  Town- 
ship, Delaware  County,  Pa.  (American  Museum 
of  Natural  History,  New  York  City)  .  .  .114 

PLATE  7. 

A,  Rutile  in  Quartz,  cut  heart-shape  (Venus'  hair- 
stone,  Fleche  d'Amour,  Sagenite),  Alexander 
County,  N.  C.;  B,  Smoky  Quartz  (cairngorm 
stone),  Alexander  County,  N.  C.  (American  Mu- 
seum of  Natural  History,  New  York  City)  ;  C, 
Rutile  in  Quartz,  West  Hartford,  Vt.  (Hubbard 
Collection) .124 

PLATE  8. 

A,  Pearl  from  common  clam  (Venus  Mercenaria), 
Long  Island  Sound,  twice  natural  size ;  B,  "  Queen 
Pearl,"  natural  size,  found  in  1857  near  Paterson, 
N.  J.;  C,  Right  Valve  of  Mother-of- Pearl  Shell 
inclosing  parasitic  fish  (oligocottus),  coast  of  west- 
ern Mexico ;  D,  Curious  Pearl  from  Unio,  from 
Cumberland  River,  Tenn.;  E,  Pearl  showing  con- 
centric rings,  magnified  four  diameters,  from  Little 
Miami  River,  Ohio  .  .  .  .  .  .212 


IV.  LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

FULL-PAGE    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

GREAT  CRYSTALS  OF   SAPPHIRE,   weight    312  and    113-4 

pounds,  in  the  Shepard  Collection,  Amherst  College      46 

TURQUOISE  MINE,  Los  Cerrillos,  N.  M 54 

TURQUOISE  CHARMS,  Beads,  and  Ornaments  made  by  Navajo 

Indians  .         .  ......       56 

HUMAN  SKULL  incrusted  with  Turquoise  and  with  eyes  of 
iron  pyrites,  from  the  Christy  Collection,  British 
Museum  ;  White  Marble  Prairie  Dog,  with  eyes  of 
turquoise,  used  by  medicine-men  to  induce  rain  .  62 

CRYSTAL  OF  TOPAZ  from  Stoneham,  Me.;  Mammoth  Beryl, 

weight  two  tons,  from  Graf  ton,  N.  H.  .         .       68 

CRYSTAL  ALMANDITE  GARNET,  weight  9  2-3  pounds,  found 
in  35th  Street,  near  Broadway,  New  York  City,  No- 
vember, 1885  ...  ...  .82 

TRANSPARENT   QUARTZ,    half   natural   size,    from   Crystal 

Mountain,  Garland  County,  Ark.     .         .         .  1 10 

AGATIZED  TREE,   "  Fallen  Chief,"   Chalcedony  Park,  and 

View  in  Chalcedony  Park,  Ariz.      .         .  .         .136 

BRIDGE  OF  AGATIZED  TREE,  55  feet  in  length,  Chalcedony 

Park,  Ariz 138 

Six  FRESH- WATER  PEARLS,  natural  size,  from  rivers  of  Ohio,     % 
Tennessee,    and    Texas ;    Pearl  with    clay  centre, 
magnified  six  diameters.          .          .          .         .         .216 

SHELL  OF  PEARL  OYSTER  WITH  ADHERING  PEARL,  from  Bay 

of  Guaymas,  Lower  California         .         .         .         .222 

PEARLS  found  on  Altar  of  Marriott  Mound,  Little  Miami 

Valley,  Ohio 226 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS  V. 

PAGE 

ABALONE   SHELL   (Haliotis   splendens)    from   Seal  Rock, 

San  Diego  County,  Cal.          .....     236 

BEADS  OF  JADEITE,  Agate,  Jasper,    Serpentine,  and  Rock 

Crystal,  Valley  of  Mexico        .....     282 

POLISHED  FIGURES  OF  OBSIDIAN  from  Mexico,  half  natural 

size  (United  States  National  Museum)    .         .         .     296 

OBSIDIAN  KNIFE  from  Tepoxtlan,  Mexico,  length  18 
inches,  Blake  Collection  (United  States  National 
Museum)  ........  298 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  TEXT 

FIGURE  i.  PAGE 

Pseudomorph  of  Turquoise  after  Apatite,  Taylor's 
Ranch,  Fresno  County,  Cal 61 

FIGURE  2. 

Beryl  (shifted  crystal)  Monroe,  Conn.      .         .         -91 

FIGURE  3. 

Chrysoberyl,  Norway,  Me.        .....       95 

FIGURE  4. 

Twinned  Crystals  of  Chrysoberyl,  Greenfield,  N.  Y.       97 

FIGURE  5. 

Crystal  of  Phenacite,  Crystal  Peak,  Col.  .         .       99 

FIGURE  6. 

Vinaigrette  made  from  Rock  Crystal  found  in  Ashe 
County,  N.  C.,  Paris  Exposition,  1889          .         .     121 

FIGURE  7. 

Dissected  Crystal  of  Chiastolite  (made)  Lancaster, 
Mass 175 


VI.  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE  8.  PAGE 

Section  of  round  and  pear-shaped    Pearl,   showing 
internal  structure  .         .         .         .         .         .218 

FIGURE  9. 

Insect  (walking-stick)   imbedded  in   shell    of   Unio 
from  Long  Island          .         .         .         .         .         .228 

FIGURE  10. 

Method  of  opening  mussels  in  Saxony  without  kill- 
ing Unio       ........     232 

FIGURE  n. 

Instruments  used  in  Saxony  to  open  mussels  without 
killing  them          .......     232 

FIGURE  12. 

Curiously  shaped  Pearl  from  common  oyster   .         .     235 

FIGURE  13. 

Jadeite  Mask,  Mexico       .         .         .         .  .     281 

FIGURE  14. 

Rock  Crystal  Skull,   5  inches  in  width,  Trocadero 
Museum,  Paris      .......     285 

FIGURE  15. 

Crescent  of  Rock  Crystal  from  Valley  of  Mexico, 
Trocadero  Museum,  Paris     .         .         .         .         .286 

FIGURE  16. 

Obsidian  Mirror  from  Oaxaca,  Mexico,  Pinard  Col- 
lection, Trocade'ro  Museum,  Paris         .         .         .     390 

FIGURE  18. 

Primitive  Method  of  drilling  a  hard  stone  with  a 
reed  and  sand       .......     304 

FIGURE  19. 

Banner-stone  of  Ferruginous  Quartz,  Iredell  County, 
N.  C .305 

FIGURE  20. 

Primitive  method  of  chipping  flint   ....     307 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION,    .  7 

CHAPTER  I. 

Diamonds,        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .13 

CHAPTER  II. 

Corundum,  Sapphire,  Ruby,  Oriental  Topaz,  Orien- 
tal Emerald,  Diaspore,  and  Spinel,  39 

CHAPTER  III. 

Turquoise,        ........       54 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Topaz    and   Tourmaline   (Rubellite,  Indicolite,  and 
Achroite),     ........       66 

CHAPTER  V. 

Garnet  Group  : — Essonite,    Spessartite,    Almandite, 
Pyrope,  Ouvarovite,  Schorlomite,          ...       78 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Beryl   (Emerald  Aquamarine),  Chrysoberyl,  Phena- 
cite,  Euclase,  Peridot,  Zircon,      .         .         .         .87 


4  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VII.  PAGE 

The  Quartz  Group : — Rock  Crystal,  Transparent 
Quartz,  Amethyst,  Smoky  Quartz,  Cairngorm 
Stone,  Gold  Quartz,  Rose  Quartz,  Novaculite, 
Silicified  Coral,  Quartzite,  Quartz  Inclusions, 
Thetis  Hairstone,  Agate,  Jasper,  Silicified 
Wood,  Opal,  Hydrophane,  .  .  .  .106 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Spodumene  (Hiddenite),  Smaragdite,  Diopside, 
Rhodonite,  Enstatite  and  Bronzite,  Wollastonite, 
Crocidolite,  Willemite,  Vesuvianite,  Allanite, 
Gadolinite,  Epidote,  Zoisite,  Axinite,  Danburite, 
lolite,  Lepidolite,  Scapolite,  Cancrinite,  Sodalite, 
Elaeolite,  Lapis  Lazuli,  .  .  .  .  .147 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Feldspar  Group : — Lennilite,  Cassinite, 
Elaeolite,  Moonstone,  Albite,  Oligoclase,  Sun- 
stone,  Labradorite,  Amazonstone,  Perthite,  Peris- 
terite,  Leoparite,  Obsidian,  Pitchstone.  Also 
Chrondrodite,  Andalusite,  .  .  .  .  .162 

CHAPTER  X. 

Chiastolite,  Cyanite,  Datolite,  Staurolite,  Isopyre, 
Pectolite,  Dioptase,  Prehnite,  Zonochlorite,  Chlor- 
astrolite,  Thomsonite,  Lintonite,  Natrolite, 
Fluorite,  .  . 175 

CHAPTER  XL 

Serpentine,  Bowenite,  Williamsite,  Microlite,  Meer- 
schaum, Apatite,  Beryllonite,  Lazulite,  Cassiterite, 
Hematite,  Lodestone,  Rutile,  Octahedrite,  Brook- 
ite,  Arkansite,  Titanic  Iron,  Titanite,  Malachite, 
Chrysocolla,  Azurite,  Arragonite,  Fossil  Coral, 
Pyrite,  Amber,  Jet,  Anthracite,  Cat's-Eye  Miner- 
als, Catlinite,  . 185 


CONTENTS  c 

CHAPTER  XII.  PAGE 

Pearls,       .          .         .          .         .          .          .         .         .211 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

In  the  Dominion  of  Canada,     .....      258 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

In  Mexico  and  Central  America,       .         .         .         .275 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Aboriginal  Lapidarian  Work  in  North  America,       .     303 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Definitions,  Imports,  and  Production,  Values,  Cutting 
of  Diamonds  and  other  Stones,  Watch  Jewels, 
Collections  of  Gems,  Minerals,  and  Jade,  Uses 
of  Precious  and  Ornamental  Stones  for  the 
Ornamentation  of  Silver,  and  Furniture  and  for 
Interior  Decoration,  Trilobite  Ornaments,  .  .310 


ERRATA. 


Page  20, 

Page  29, 

Page  35, 

Page  44, 

Page  51, 

Page  68, 

Page  69, 
Page  74, 
Page  74, 
Page  75, 
Page  75, 
Page  79, 
Page  83, 
Page  101, 
Page  104, 
Page  108, 
Page  114, 
Page  1 1 6, 
Page  no, 
Page  131, 
Page  134, 
Page  1.37, 
Page  141, 

Pa^e  142, 
Page  145, 
Page  150, 
Page  155, 
Page  157, 
Page  166, 


line  1.3, /or  twined  read  twinned.  Page  168, 

line  5,  for  i  1-5  carats  read  i%  carats.  Page  168, 

line  14,  for  Onaka  read  Unaka.  Page  169, 

line  23,  for  Shorting  read  Shooting.  Page  173, 

line  28,  insert  and  after  pyrite.  Page  176, 

in  heading  of  fifth  analysis,  for  Turnbull  read  Page  179, 

Trumbull.  Page  182, 

line  26,  for  Mountains  read  Mountain.  Page  187, 

line  27,  for  covered  read  uncovered.  Page  193, 

line  29,  for  dips  read  strikes.  Page  198, 

line  5,  for  or  read  of.  Page  201, 

line  6,  for  rubellites  read  rubellite.  Page  203, 

line  4,  for  the  read  this.  Page  206, 

lines  12  and   19,  for  melonite  read  melanite.  Page  230, 

last  line,/0r  is  read  are.  Page  248, 

line  $,for  microline  read  microcline.  Page  250. 

line  20,  for  Ash  read  Ashe.  Page  250, 

line  21,  for  Jefferies  read  Jefferis.  Page  253, 

line  13,  for  Anteros  read  Antero.  Page  254, 

line  16,  for  plegmatic  read  pegmatitic.  Page  254, 

lines  24  and  3.3, ,/or  Uraguay  read  Uruguay.  Page  259, 

line  24  after  Richmond  insert  Indiana.  Page  266, 

line  24  omit  Cretaceous.  Page  276, 

line  5  from  bottom,  for  representations   read  Page  279, 

representatives.  Page  280, 

line  5  from  bottom,  remove  comma  after  only.  Page  284, 
line  30,   after  bluish    green  insert  coatings, 

analyses  note  2,  for  Zoizite  read  Zoisite.  Page  288, 

head  of  analyses,  for  Sandford  readSanford.  Page  288, 

line  2,  for  pleochrism  read  pleochroism.  Page  298, 

line  3  from  bottom,  for  Bythurst  read  Bathurst.  Page  306, 


line  20,  for  Sante  read  Santa. 

line  22, /"or  sperolite  read  spherolitic. 

line  16,  for  Squire  read  Squier. 

line  $,  for  A  like  B  read  B  like  A. 

line  3,  for  10  to  6  read  10  by  6. 

line  9,  for  breccilated  read  brecciated. 

lines  i  and  n,far  Marias  read  Marais. 

line  20,  for  Hartford  read  Harford. 

line  11,  for  popular  read  poplar. 

line  20,  for  ashes  read  oxide. 

line  6,  for  Cresswicks  read  Crosswicks. 

line  n,  after  species  insert  of  insects. 

foot-note  4,  for  Missouri  read  Mission. 

line  26,  for  Olentangg  read  Olentangy. 

line  26,  for  Jefferies  read  Jeffries. 

line  19,  for  Caciques  read  Cacique. 

foot-note  i,  for  Charlestown  read  Charleston. 

line  g,for  Jefferies  read  Jeffries. 

line  17 ,  for  costalus  read  costatus. 

line  8  from  bottom,  for  Techa  read  Teche. 

line  15,  for  was  read  were. 

line  23,  for  and  read  as. 

line  8,  for  goedes  read  geodes. 

line  9  from  bottom,  for  1-5  inch  read  3-5  inch. 

line  6,  before  an  insert  as. 

line   7   from  bottom,  for  matamorphic   read 

metamorphic. 

line  5,  for  quinzite  read  quincite. 
line  it  from  bottom,  for  rocks  read  rock, 
line  8,  for  walls  read  wells, 
line  i,  for  discordal  read  discoidal. 


' 

.till  ' 

' 


-.     - 

— 

I 


INTRODUCTION 


NEARLY  all  the  known  varieties  of  precious  stones  are 
found  in  the  United  States,  but  there  is  very  little  sys- 
tematic exploration  for  them,  as  the  indications  seldom 
justify  the  investment  of  much  capital  in  such  search. 
The  daily  yield  from  the  coal  and  iron  mines,  or  from  the  South 
African  diamond  mines,  or  a  week's  yield  of  the  granite  quarries, 
would  exceed  in  value  the  entire  output  of  precious  stones  found 
in  the  United  States  during  a  year.  Systematic  search  for  gems 
and  precious  stones  has  been  carried  on  in  only  two  States — 
Maine  and  North  Carolina.  Otherwise,  the  gems  are  found 
accidentally,  in  connection  with  other  substances  that  are  being 
mined,  or  in  small  veins  which  are  only  occasionally  met  with,  as 
the  turquoise  in  Mexico.  They  are  often  gathered  on  the 
surface,  as  is  the  case  with  garnet  or  olivine  from  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico  ;  or  in  sluicing  for  gold,  as  the  sapphires  from 
Montana ;  or  in  connection  with  mica  mining,  as  the  beryl  from 
Connecticut  and  North  Carolina ;  or  from  the  beds  of  streams 
and  decomposing  rocks,  as  the  moss-agate  from  Wyoming  ;  or  on 
the  beaches,  as  the  agate,  chlorastrolite,  and  thomsonite  from 
the  shores  of  Lake  Superior. 

Nearly  all  the  gems  found  in  these  various  ways  are  sent  to 
the  large  cities  in  small  parcels,  or  sold  in  the  neighborhood  to 
tourists,  or  sent  to  other  places  to  be  disposed  of  as  having  been 
found  in  their  vicinity.  Many  of  them  are  only  known  locally, 
some  to  mineralogists,  while  others,  mentioned  in  the  following 


8  INTRODUCTION 

pages,  are  accepted  by  the  few  gem  collectors  of  the  United 
States,  whose  only  object  is  to  find  something  possessing  the 
qualities  of  a  gem  or  precious  stone,  wherewith  to  enrich  their 
cabinets.  A  list  of  such  gem  stones  will  be  of  interest  to  many 
who  have  not  known  of  their  existence  in  this  country,  and  to 
others  this  knowledge  may  have  a  commercial  value,  should 
some  of  these  minerals  be  met  with  in  sufficient  quantities  and 
of  good  quality ;  and,  in  directing  attention  to  valuable  de- 
posits where  a  small  amount  has  already  been  realized,  it  may 
stimulate  the  interest  in  and  search  for  gems,  and  aid  in  develop- 
ing what  may  become  an  important  industry. 

It  is  known  that  the  Indians  worked  the  turquoise  mines  of 
New  Mexico  more  than  two  centuries  ago  ;  that  they  made  arrow 
and  spear  points  of  rock  crystal,  smoky  quartz,  agatized  and 
opalized  woods,  agates,  jaspers,  and  obsidian,  and  buried  crystals 
of  quartz  with  their  dead ;  that  the  richly  colored  fluorite  of 
Hardin  County,  111.,  was  worked  by  them  into  ornaments. 
Some  of  the  most  beautiful  of  their  arrow-points  are  now 
used  for  decoration  by  the  white  man,  paralleling  the  prover- 
bial conversion  of  swords  into  plowshares.  Mention  will  be  made 
of  a  few  localities  where  gem  specimens  have  been  found  which 
are  remarkable  as  such,  and  which  have  a  special  claim  on  the 
collector  ;  some  notes  will  also  be  given  concerning  specimens 
that  have  been  of  value  to  the  finder,  such,  for  example,  as  the 
Pike's  Peak  amazonstone,  or  the  spinels  found  at  Monroe,  N.  Y., 
which  have  little  or  no  gem  value.  Many  of  these  stones  are 
as  beautiful,  in  their  native  form,  as  they  are  after  having  un- 
dergone the  grinding  process.  The  cutting  of  such  material, 
therefore,  for  its  money  value,  is  really  vandalism  and  should 
be  discouraged  by  all  scientists,  although  we  may  not  all  be 
willing  to  accept  more  broadly  Ruskin's  opinion  that  "  gems 
should  not  be  cut,  but  worn  in  the  natural  state." 

In  1882  the  writer  was  invited  to  prepare  a  paper  on 
precious  stones  of  the  United  States  for  the  first  annual  report 
of  the  Division  of  Mining  Statistics,  and  since  then  has 
prepared  similar  annual  reports.  From  that  beginning  the  pres- 
ent work  has  grown,  and  it  contains  much  additional  information 
obtained  from  studying  the  collections  of  the  United  States  as 


INTRODUCTION  9 

well  as  from  a  personal  examination  of  many  of  the  localities 
where  gems  are  found.  Its  object  is  to  present,  in  convenient 
form,  as  many  of  the  facts  as  possible  regarding  the  precious 
stones  peculiar  to  the  United  States,  Canada,  and  Mexico,  so  that 
they  may  be  available,  not  only  to  the  mineralogist,  the  miner,  the 
mineral  and  gem  collector,  the  archaeologist  and  the  jeweler,  but 
also  to  the  public,  the  conditions  under  which  they  occur,  the 
methods  by  which  the  mining  and  search  for  them  are  con- 
ducted, the  value  and  production  of  different  stones,  and  also 
an  account  of  the  collections  in  these  countries. 

A  brief  general  description  of  each  important  gem  will  be 
found  at  the  beginning  of  the  article  and  a  series  of  analyses 
indicating  the  composition  of  each  precious  stone,  from  the  latest 
or  most  reliable  authority,  and  for  comparison  a  typical  analysis 
is  generally  included.  Full  reference  to  the  literature  of  the 
subject  is  given  in  the  foot-notes. 

The  chapter  on  Canadian  precious  stones  is  based  on  a  re- 
port prepared  for  "  The  Mining  and  Mineral  Statistics  of  Canada  " 
for  1887,  and  its  use  is  permitted  through  the  courtesy  of  the 
authorities  of  the  Canadian  Geological  Survey.  One  chapter  is 
devoted  to  pearls,  with  a  full  account  of  their  mention  by  the 
early  explorers,  their  occurrence  in  mounds,  Indian  graves,  and 
similar  remains  ;  another  devoted  to  the  imports  and  values,  and 
to  the  cutting  of  gem  stones,  with  mention  of  some  remarkable 
gems  owned  in  the  United  States,  and  a  brief  description  of  the 
best  known  collections  in  this  country. 

A  number  of  minerals  are  enumerated  that  are  not  only 
below  7  in  the  scale  of  hardness,  but  that  are  even  below 
6,  and  apparently  too  soft  for  cut  gems ;  yet  cups,  vases,  and 
other  objects  may  be  made  of  these  stones,  such  as  serpentine 
and  catlinite,  which  could  be  successfully  used  where  transparent 
apatite  could  not,  because  they  are  opaque,  do  not  show  scratches, 
and  always  present  an  even,  good  color. 

During  recent  years  a  number  of  items  have  appeared  in  the 
newspapers  relative  to  the  finding  of  alleged  valuable  gems,  which 
have  proved  on  investigation  to  be  without  foundation.  As 
newspaper  statements  are  sometimes  copied  into  special  literature, 
it  may  be  well  to  refer  briefly  to  them. 


IO  INTRODUCTION 

The  "  Blue  Ridge  sapphire,"  or  "  Georgia  marvel,"  as  it  was 
called  in  the  reports,  was  found  in  1883  in  a  brook  in  the  Blue 
Ridge  Mountains  in  Georgia.  It  was  estimated  to  be  worth 
about  $50,000  by  the  owner,  he  having  been  assured  of  its  genuine- 
ness as  a  sapphire  by  two  Southern  jewelers,  who  had  arrived  at 
its  valuation  by  computing  its  weight.  Anything  scratched  by  a 
file  is  sure  to  be  pronounced  glass,  whether  it  is  glass,  topaz,  or 
some  other  equally  hard  stone ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
common  fallacy  prevails  that  anything  that  a  file  cannot  scratch 
is  a  genuine  stone,  even  though  it  may  be  only  glass.  In  this  in- 
stance the  gem  proved  to  be  a  piece  of  rolled  blue  bottle-glass, 
of  which  fact  its  owner  could  be  convinced  only  when  he  saw  a 
platinum  wire  coated  with  a  melted  fragment. 

Another  wonder  was  a  stone  weighing  9  ounces,  plowed 
up  near  Gibsonville,  Guilford  County,  N.  C.,  which  was  pro- 
nounced a  genuine  emerald  by  some  local  expert,  who  tested 
it,  and  with  the  microscope  showed  that  it  contained  various  small 
diamonds.  Its  value  was  estimated  up  in  the  thousands,  and 
$i,ooowas  reported  to  have  been  refused  for  it  by  its  owner,  who, 
as  it  was  believed  to  be  the  largest  known  emerald,  expected  that 
it  would  bring  him  a  fortune.  Being,  therefore,  too  valuable  to 
be  entrusted  to  an  express  company,  he  put  himself  to  the  ex- 
pense of  a  trip  to  New  York,  where  his  prize  proved  on  examina- 
tion to  be  a  greenish  quartz  crystal,  filled  with  long  hair-like  crys- 
tals of  green  byssolite  or  actinolite,  on  which  were  series  and 
strings  of  small  liquid  cavities  that,  glistening  in  the  sun,  had  led 
to  the  included  diamond  theory.  The  best  offer  that  he  received 
for  the  stone  was  $5. 

The  "Wetumpka  Ruby,"  from  Elmore  County,  Ala.,  was 
supposed  to  be  a  ruby  of  six  ounces  weight,  "  after  cutting  away 
all  the  roughness."  Owing  to  its  assumed  value,  it  was  deposited 
in  the  Wetumpka  bank  vault,  and  on  no  consideration  would  be 
sent  to  any  one  on  approbation.  A  small  fragment  sent  to  New 
York  City  proved  the  stone  to  be  only  a  garnet  and  from  its 
quality,  of  no  gem  value,  even  if  a  ruby. 

Another  is  a  crystal  found  near  Danbury,  N.  C.,  which 
was  examined  and  pronounced  to  be  a  genuine  diamond  by 
the  local  jewelers,  and  valued  at  $7,000. 


INTRODUCTION  I  I 

A  number  of  the  supposed  diamond  discoveries  will  be 
found  at  the  end  of  the  first  chapter. 

It  is  not  intended  to  make  this  volume  either  a  complete 
treatise  on  precious  stones  or  on  the  science  of  mineralogy,  but  to 
confine  it  more  particularly  to  the  occurrence  of  precious  stones  in 
North  America,  and  for  comparison,  occasional  reference  is  made 
to  foreign  sources  and  authorities. 

The  beautiful  colored  plates  contained  in  this  volume  are 
the  work  of  the  eminent  art  lithographers,  Messrs.  L.  Prang  & 
Co.,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  and  are  unquestionably  the  finest  work  of 
the  kind  ever  published.  The  writer's  thanks  are  extended  to 
Messrs.  Tiffany  &  Co.  for  the  facilities  afforded  by  their  corps 
of  artists  in  the  preparation  of  the  original  designs  used  in 
the  production  of  these  plates. 

During  the  preparation  of  this  work,  much  valuable  assist- 
ance has  been  received  from  the  following  gentlemen,  to  whom 
the  author  begs  to  tender  his  most  sincere  thanks. 

Maj.  John  W.  Powell,  William  H.  Holmes,  Prof.  Frank  W. 
Clarke,  Joseph  S.  Diller,  and  Dr.  David  T.  Day,  of  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey  ;  Lester  F.  Ward,  Frank  H.  Knowlton, 
William  H.  Dall,  George  H.  Merrill,  Dr.  Thomas  Wilson  and 
Dr.  Robert  E.  C.  Stearns,  of  the  United  States  National  Mu- 
seum ;  Prof.  Edward  S.  Dana,  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Penfield  and  Mr.  O. 
H.  Drake,  of  Yale  University ;  Dr.  Augustus  C.  Hamlin,  Bangor, 
Me. ;  Dr.  Robert  Lilley,  Dr.  Marcus  Benjamin,  Prof.  Daniel 
S.  Martin,  Mr.  James  D.  Yerrington,  Prof.  Oliver  P.  Hubbard 
and  Mr.  C.  J.  Cottier,  of  New  York  City,  also  Dr.  E.  Hamy,  of 
Paris,  France. 


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CHAPTER   I. 


I 


Diamonds. 

diamond  crystallizes  in  the  isometric  system,  and  is 
usually  found  as  an  octahedron  or  as  some  modifica- 
tion of  that  form.  It  is  10  in  the  scale  of  hardness  and 
the  hardest  of  all  known  substances.  Its  composition 
is  pure  carbon.  It  has  a  greater  refractive  and  dispersive  power 
on  light  than  any  other  gem,  and  is  the  only  one  that  is  combus- 
tible. Its  specific  gravity  is  about  3*525.  In  color  its  range  is 
extensive,  and  it  is  found  in  almost  all  the  shades  of  the 
spectrum,  more  commonly,  however,  white,  yellow,  brown  ;  rarely 
rose-red,  red,  blue,  and  green. 

Ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  diamonds  at  present  obtained  are 
from  the  Kimberley  Mines,  Griqua  Land  West,  South  Africa. 
The  remainder  come  from  Brazil,  India,  and  Borneo.  A  few 
have  been  found  recently  in  New  South  Wales,  and  they  are 
known  to  exist  in  the  Ural  Mountains.  Since  the  discovery  of 
South  African  mines  in  1867,  and  the  opening  a  short  time 
afterward  of  3,143  claims  that  are  now  consolidated  into  a  small 
number  of  large  companies,  all  within  a  radius  of  a  mile  and  a 
half,  more  diamonds  have  been  found  than  during  the  two 
preceding  centuries  throughout  the  whole  world.  Over  9 
tons  (40,000,000  carats)  of  diamonds,  valued  in  the  rough  at 
$250,000,000,  and  after  cutting  at  over  $500,000,000,  have  been 
taken  from  these  mines.  Diamonds  are  sold  by  the  carat.  The 


'  7 


r,*° 
0* 

14  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS  'STONES    IN    THE 

y* 

International  carat  weighs. 205  grams,  equivalent  to  3*168  grains 
troy.  The  proportions  according  to  quality  of  the  entire  South 
African  yield  are  as  follows  :  First  quality,  eight  per  cent.,  second 
quality,  twenty-five  per  cent.,  third  quality,  twenty  per  cent.,  and 
the  balance  bort,  which  is  used  for  slitting  gems,  polishing 
diamonds,  more  recently  for  saws,  and  ground  into  powder  for  use 
in  the  arts.  An  impression  seems  to  prevail  that  a  diamond 
will  not  break  if  struck  with  a  hammer  on  an  anvil,  and  several 
that  were  supposed  to  be  good  specimens  were  broken  in 
this  way.  While  the  diamond  is  hard,  it  is  also  very  brittle, 
and  can  be  easily  broken,  and  although  every  substance  from 
the  hardness  of  feldspar  up,  including  a  cleavage  or  cut  dia- 
mond, will  scratch  glass,  nothing  but  the  natural  edge  of  a 
diamond  crystal  will  cut  it.  )  To  determine  whether  a  given 
specimen  is  a  diamond,  the  best  test  is  to  try  if  it  will  scratch! 
corundum.  If  no  mark  is  produced,  and  if  the  specimen  cannot  be 
scratched  by  a  diamond,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  it  is  a  diamond. 
It  is  well  to  make  the  trial  on  a  smooth  or  polished  surface,  t>ther- ; 
wise  the  scratch  will  not  be  perceptible. 

The  occurrence  of  diamonds  in  the  United  States  is  chiefly 
confined  to  two  regions,  geographically  very  remote  and  geo- 
logically quite  dissimilar.  The  first  is  a  belt  of  country  ly- 
ing along  the  eastern  base  of  the  southern  Alleghanies,  from 
Virginia  to  Georgia,  while  the  other  extends  along  the  west- 
ern base  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  Cascade  ranges  in  northern 
California  and  southern  Oregon.  In  both  cases  the  mode 
of  occurrence  has  several  marked  resemblances.  The  dia- 
monds are  found  in  loose  material,  among  deposits  of  gravel  and 
earth,  and  are  associated  with  garnets,  zircons,  iron  sands,  mona- 
zite,  anatase,  and  particularly  with  gold,  in  the  search  for  which 
they  have  usually  been  discovered.  This  resemblance  is  due  al- 
together to  the  fact  that  these  loose  deposits,  in  both  regions,  are 
merely  the  debris  of  the  crystalline  rocks  of  the  adjacent  moun- 
tains, and  therefore  present  a  general  similarity,  while  the  ages 
of  the  rocks  themselves  are  widely  different.  In  the  case  of  the 
South  Atlantic  States,  the  rocks  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and  eastern 
Alleghanies  are  of  ancient  Archaen  and  Cambrian  ages,  while  in 
the  western  belt,  the  Sierra  Nevada  was  not  elevated  and  meta- 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  15 

morphosed  until  the  middle  or  later  Mesozoic.  From  the  general 
resemblance  of  conditions  above  referred  to,  the  details  of  discov- 
ery in  the  two  regions  are  remarkably  similar,  and  in  both  occas- 
ional diamond  crystals  are  found,  accidentally  picked  up  on 
the  surface,  or  more  frequently  encountered  in  the  search  for  gold, 
sometimes  in  placer-mining  and  sometimes  in  the  flumes  and 
sluices  of  hydraulic  workings.  They  have  sometimes  been  over- 
looked, unrecognized,  or  destroyed  by  rude  and  ignorant  meth- 
ods of  testing,  and  at  other  times  have  been  made  the  basis 
of  fabulous  estimates  and  exaggerated  tales,  but  they  have  not  as 
yet  been  found  in  sufficient  quantities  to  justify  an  attempt  at 
diamond-mining,  nor  have  the  specimens  obtained  been  of  more 
than  local  interest  and  moderate  value. 

With  regard  to  the  finding  of  diamonds  in  other  parts  of  the 
country,  there  have  been  various  reports,  but  little  or  no  positive 
evidence.  The  supposed  diamond  field  of  central  Kentucky  has 
been  the  subject  of  much  interesting  study  and  discussion  on  ac- 
count of  the  striking  resemblance  of  the  rock  to  that  of  the  diam- 
antiferous  region  of  South  Africa ;  but  the  conditions  are  found, 
upon  closer  examination,  to  present  important  differences,  and  the 
diamonds  are  yet  to  be  discovered.  The  formations  in  the  eastern 
portions  of  the  United  States  where  diamonds  have  been  found 
are  entirely  different  from  those  of  South  Africa.  They  resemble 
more  nearly  those  of  the  diamond  fields  of  Brazil  and  of  parts  of 
India.  The  diamonds  found  in  the  United  States  are  much 
older  than  those  of  South  Africa,  and  if  they  have  ever  occurred 
in  rock  similar  to  that  in  Kimberley,  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  it 
now,  since  the  rocks  in  American  diamond-bearing  localities  are 
mainly  granitic.  It  may  be  said  that,  while  diamonds  are  found 
to  some  extent  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  there  is  no 
reason  as  yet  to  believe  that  they  will  ever  be  numbered  among 
our  important  mineral  products.  Their  local  and  scientific  inter- 
est is  of  course  very  great ;  and  this  fact  will  justify  the  some- 
what detailed  account  of  their  occurrence  given  in  this  volume  as 
an  important  part  of  a  work  on  precious  stones  in  the  United 
States.  Prof.  H.  Carvill  Lewis  paid  much  attention  to  this 
subject,  visiting  many  of  the  localities  where  diamonds  had  been 
found  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  United  States,  and  personally  in- 


1 6  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

vestigating  the  history  of  such  stones  as  he  could  trace.  His  con- 
clusions are  to  be  published  in  a  final  memoir  on  the  "  Genesis  of 
the  Diamond,"  the  completion  and  editing  of  which  has  been 
undertaken,  since  his  death,  by  his  friend  and  associate,  Prof. 
George  H.  Williams,  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University.  A 
moderate  number  of  well-authenticated  diamonds  have  been  found 
in  Georgia  and  in  North  Carolina,  a  very  few  are  reported  from 
South  Carolina,  and  one  or  two  are  known  from  southern  Vir- 
ginia. These  are  all  apparently  derived  from  the  detritus  of  the 
crystalline  metamorphic  rocks  that  extend  through  these  States 
as  the  eastern  ranges  of  the  Appalachian  system.  Of  these,  the 
great  continuous  Blue  Ridge  is,  of  course,  the  leading  member  ; 
eastward  of  it  lies  the  so-called  Atlantic  or  Tidewater  gneiss,  by 
many  regarded  of  later  age ;  and  another  belt,  perhaps  distinct, 
extends  from  Richmond,  Va.,  to  the  vicinity  of  Raleigh,  N.  C. 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  geology  of  these  crystalline 
belts  is  thus  far  so  little  known.  At  some  points  they  appear  to 
be  well  distinguished,  while  at  others  they  merge  into  one  another 
and  have  not  been  clearly  defined.  The  names  Laurentian,  Hur- 
onian,  Montalban,  and  Cambrian  are  variously  applied  to  differ- 
ent portions  of  them  by  different  geologists.  The  Blue  Ridge 
proper  is  generally  admitted  to  be  chiefly  true  Laurentian  ;  and  it 
is  certain  that  Cambrian  beds  appear  at  some  points  in  the  area. 
The  remarkable  itacolumite  rock,  popularly  associated  with  the 
occurrence  of  diamonds,  is  found  at  many  points  on  the  flanks  of 
the  Blue  Ridge,  but  its  geological  age  is  not  yet  clearly  estab- 
lished. 

Beginning  with  the  account  of  the  one  well-known  Virginia 
diamond,  we  shall  pass  on  southward,  taking  up  the  States  in  or- 
der. The  Dewey  diamond  (see  Colored  Plate  No.  i),  was  found  at 
Manchester,  Va.,  in  1855,  and  John  H.  Tyler,  Sr.,  of  Richmond, 
Va.,  who  was  the  first  to  see  it,  says  :  "  This  diamond  was  found 
just  opposite  Richmond,  by  a  laborer  engaged  in  grading  one  of 
the  streets.  It  was  brought  to  me  to  ascertain  its  character  and 
value.  I  pronounced  it  at  once  a  valuable  diamond,  and  recom- 
mended the  finder  to  keep  it  carefully  and  to  see  me  about  it  again. 
I  did  not  know  his  name,  and  have  not  seen  him  since,  but  after- 
wards learned  that  he  sold  it."  The  first  record  that  we  have  of 


PLATE  No.-l 


A 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  IJ 

it  is  from  the  "New  York  Evening  Post"  of  April  28,  1855, 
where  it  says  :  "  We  were  shown  yesterday,  on  board  the  steam- 
ship '  Jamestown,' what  is  said  to  be  the  largest  diamond  ever 
discovered  in  North  America.  It  was  found  several  months  ago 
by  a  laboring  man  at  Manchester,  Va.,  in  some  earth  which  he 
was  digging  up.  It  was  put  into  a  furnace  for  melting  iron,  at 
Richmond,  where  it  remained  at  red  heat  for  two  hours  and 
twenty  minutes.  It  was  then  taken  out  and  found  to  be  uninjured 
and  brighter  than  ever.  It  was  valued  in  Richmond  at  $4,000." 
This  stone  next  passed  into  the  possession  of  Samuel  W.  Dewey, 
of  Jackson,  now  of  Philadelphia,  and  by  him  was  named  the 
Oninoor,  or  "  Sun  of  Light,"  though  it  has  more  generally  been 
known  as  the  Dewey  diamond.  It  was  for  a  time  on  exhibition 
in  New  York,  at  the  store  of  Ball,  Black  &  Co.,  and  was  cut  at  an 
expense  of  $1,500  by  Henry  D.  Morse,  of  Boston.  Having 
passed  out  of  Mr.  Dewey's  hands,  through  his  failure  to  redeem 
it  on  a  loan,  it  was  then  sold  to  J.  Anglist,  who  received  from 
John  A.  Morrissey  a  loan  of  $6,000  on  it,  and  as  he  failed  to  redeem 
it,  it  became  part  of  the  Morrissey  estate  and  was  known  as 
the  Morrissey  diamond.  It  had  a  large  flaw  on  one  side  (see 
Colored  Plate  No.  i),  and  was  an  octahedron  with  slightly  rounded 
faces.  Its  original  weight  was  23!  carats,  and  after  cutting  it 
weighed  uH  carats.  As* it  is  off-color  and  imperfect,  it  is  to-day 
worth  not  more  than  from  $300  to  $400.  Exact  copies  of  it  in 
glass,  as  well  as  copper  electrotypes  of  it  as  it  was  found,  and  as 
cut,  were  deposited  by  Mr.  Dewey  in  the  United  States  Mint  at 
Philadelphia,  and  also  at  the  Peabody  Museum  in  New  Haven 
and  in  a  number  of  cabinets. 

North  Carolina,  so  rich  and  varied  in  mineral  resources,  has 
long  been  known  to  yield  a  certain  amount  of  gold  ;  and  in  the 
same  region  have  been  found  some  diamonds,  either  loose  in  the 
soil,  or  taken  from  the  washings  of  auriferous  gravel.  The  por- 
tion of  the  State  which  has  yielded  these  valuable  substances 
is  that  known  as  the  Piedmont  region, — a  belt  of  country  lying,  as 
its  name  indicates,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  along  the  eastern 
base  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  rocks  here  are  metamorphic  and 
crystalline,  with  some  Cambrian  beds  a  little  farther  west.  There 
runs  throughout  much  of  this  region  a  belt  or  belts  of  itacolumite, 


1 8  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

the  so-called  "  flexible  sandstone,"  which  is  sometimes  found  in 
Brazil  and  in  the  Ural  Mountains,  and  is  generally  supposed  to 
be  the  matrix  of  diamond  crystals.  The  presence  of  this  peculiar 
rock  and  the  occasional  discovery  of  diamonds  in  adjacent  dis- 
tricts have  led  to  the  idea  that  the  itacolumite  belt  of  North  Caro- 
lina might  prove  to  be  a  valuable  diamantiferous  region  ;  but  as 
yet  no  diamonds  have  actually  been  discovered  there,  and  but 
few  have  been  found  in  the  loose  debris  of  the  crystalline  beds. 
Prof.  Frederick  A.  Genth,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
describes  l  the  occurrence  of  the  two  crystalline  varieties  of  car- 
bon in  that  State, — the  graphite  in  beds  interstratified  with  mica 
schist  or  gneiss  ;  the  diamond  in  the  debris  of  such  rocks,  asso- 
ciated with  gold,  zircon,  garnet,  monazite,  and  other  minerals, 
and  after  speaking  of  this  occurrence  in  connection  with  rocks  of 
identical  age,  as  a  very  interesting  circumstance,  he  says  :  "  The 
diamond  has  not  been  observed  in  North  Carolina  in  any  more 
recent  strata,  and  in  the  itacolumite  regions  no  diamonds  have 
ever  been  found,  as  in  Brazil  ;  from  which  it  appears  that  the 
itacolumite  of  Brazil  is  either  simply  a  quartzose  mica  slate  of 
similar  age  with  the  North  Carolina  gneissoid  rocks,  or,  if  it  be 
contemporary  with  the  North  Carolina  itacolumite,  the  diamonds 
were  not  produced  in  the  same  but  came  from  the  older  rocks, 
and  were  redeposited  with  the  sands  resulting  from  the  reduction 
to  powder  of  these  and  are  now  found  imbedded  in  the  same, 
their  hardness  having  prevented  their  destruction.  Seven  or 
eight  diamonds  have  thus  far  been  found.  They  occur  distributed 
over  a  wide  area  of  surface  in  the  counties  of  Burke,  Rutherford, 
Lincoln,  Mecklenburg,  and  Franklin,  and  I  have  no  doubt  if  a 
regular  search  were  to  be  made  for  them,  they  would  be  more 
frequently  found."  To  the  counties  named  by  Professor  Genth, 
must  now  be  added  McDowell,  and  these  all  form,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Franklin,  a  group  lying  together  in  the  line  of  the  general 
drainage  of  the  country,  southeast  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  Franklin 
County  is  far  to  the  northeast  of  the  others  ;  and  any  diamonds 
occurring  there  must  be  derived  from  the  disintegration  of 
another  belt  of  crystalline  rocks,  that  traverses  the  eastern  portion 
of  the  State,  near  Weldon,  in  Halifax  County,  or  else  have  been 

i  Mineral  Resources  of  North  Carolina,  p.  28,  Philadelphia,  1871. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  19 

transported  to  a  great  distance  by  rivers.  The  same  is  doubtless 
true  of  the  diamond  found  at  Manchester,  Chesterfield  County, 
Va. 

Historically  the  North  Carolina  diamonds  are  reported  as  fol- 
lows :  The  first  specimen  was  picked  up  at  the  ford  of  Brindletown 
Creek,  Burke  County,  in  1843,  by  Dr.  F.  M.  Stephenson.  It  was 
an  octahedral  crystal,  and  was  estimated  to  be  worth  $100. 
Another  was  found  in  the  same  neighborhood  by  Prof.  George 
W.  Featherstonhaugh ;  but  there  seems  to  be  no  account  of  its 
characters.  The  third  found,  but  the  first  to  attract  much  atten- 
tion, was  obtained  in  1845,  from  the  gold-washings  of  D.  J, 
Twitty's  mine,  in  Rutherford  County.  It  was  owned  by  Gen. 
Thomas  L.  Clingman,  of  Asheville,  and  was  described  by  Prof. 
Charles  U.  Shepard.1  It  was  a  curved  and  remarkably  distorted 
octahedron,  clear,  almost  flawless,  and  faintly  tinged  with  yellow. 
The  weight  was  about  ii  carats  (4*1 2  grains).  Professor  Shepard 
had  announced  the  existence  of  itacolumite  in  the  gold-bearing 
region  of  North  Carolina,  at  the  meeting  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciation of  Geologists  and  Naturalists  in  1845,  and  under  the  im- 
pression that  the  itacolumite  is  their  matrix,  had  predicted  the 
further  discovery  of  diamonds  in  that  region,  as  in  Brazil.  For 
this  reason,  diamonds,  when  found,  were  naturally  submitted  to 
him.  C.  Leventhorpe,  of  Patterson,  Caldwell  County,  N.  C., 
reports  a  small  and  poor  specimen  found  in  a  placer-mine  on  his 
property  in  Rutherford  County,  and  states  that  he  presented  it  to 
Professor  Shepard,  who  retained  it  in  his  cabinet.  The  fourth 
important  specimen  was  found  in  gold-washings  in  1852,  by 
Dr.  C.  L.  Hunter,  near  Cottage  Home,  Lincoln  County.  It 
is  said  to  have  been  an  elongated  octahedron  of  a  delicate 
greenish  tint,  transparent,  and  about  half  a  carat  in  weight. 
Another,  said  to  be  a  very  handsome  white  crystal  of  i 
carat,  was  obtained  in  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  at 
Todd's  Branch,  Mecklenburg  County;  and  a  beautiful  black 
stone  "  as  large  as  a  chinquapin,"  was  afterwards  found  by  some 
gold-washers  in  the  same  locality.  This  specimen,  unfortunately, 
was  crushed  with  a  hammer,  sharing  the  fate  of  several  Ameri- 
can diamonds  when  submitted  to  the  mistaken  test  which  con- 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  II,  Vol.  2,  p.  253,  Sept.  1846. 


2O  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

founds  hardness  with  strength.  The  fragments  of  the  black 
diamond  scratched  corundum  with  ease,  thereby  proving  its 
genuineness.  The  next  discovery  reported  is  that  mentioned 
by  Professor  Genth, — two  diamonds,  one  a  beautiful  octahedron, 
from  the  Portis  Mine  in  Franklin  County.  These  specimens,  as 
before  remarked,  came  from  localities  remote  from  all  the  others, 
and  must  have  been  either  transported  a  long  distance  by  river 
action,  or  else  derived  from  the  belt  of  gneissic  rocks  that  extends 
from  Richmond  to  Raleigh.  McDowell  County  has  yielded  two 
specimens,  one  a  small  crystal  found  some  years  ago  on  the  head 
waters  of  Muddy  Creek,  and  a  much  larger  one,  picked  up  on  the 
surface  in  1 886,  at  Dysortville.  This  is  a  somewhat  distorted 
and  twinpd  hex-octahedron  of  4^  carats'  weight,  10  millimeters  in 
height  and  7  millimeters  in  diameter,  transparent,  but  with  a  gray- 
ish-green tinge  of  color,  an<d  is  valued,  for  gem  purposes  alone,  at 
from  $100  to  $150.  The  circumstances  of  its  discovery  are  thus 
related  :  Willie  Chrystie,  the  twelve-year-old  son  of  Grayson 
Chrystie,  was  sent  for  a  pail  of  water  to  a  spring  on  the  Alfred 
Bright  farm,  in  Dysortville.  While  sitting  at  the  spring,  he  saw 
a  glistening  object  among  the  gravel,  and  picking  it  up  as  a 
"  pretty  trick,"  brought  it  home.  It  lay  on  a  shelf  almost  un- 
noticed for  a  fortnight,  and  was  then  shown  at  the  store  of  the  vil- 
lage grocer.  Here  it  became  an  object  of  general  curiosity,  and 
elicited  various  opinions,  until  the  idea  grew  that  it  was  probably 
a  diamond.  It  was  sent  to  Tiffany  &  Co.,  of  New  York, 
and  its  real  character  at  once  determined.  A  year  later  the 
present  writer  visited  the  spot,  and  fully  authenticated  all  the 
facts  of  the  discovery.  The  sediment  in  the  bed  of  the  spring 
was  taken  out  and  examined,  and  also  the  small  hollows  on  the 
adjacent  hillside.  None  of  the  ordinary  associations  of  the  dia- 
mond were  observed,  and  hence  it  is  probable  that  the  crystal 
was  washed  down  with  decomposing  rock-soil  from  higher 
ground,  perhaps  during  some  freshet ;  or  possibly  it  may  have 
been  carried  to  the  spring  by  miners,  and  left  unobserved  or  un- 
recognized among  the  "  wash-up  "  of  the  gold-bearing  sand  from 
some  neighboring  placer.  There  are  gold  mines  in  McDowell 
County,  worked  chiefly  by  hydraulic  sluicing,  but  as  a  rule  the 
stones  that  remain  in  the  sluices  are  carefully  examined,  as  the 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  21 

miners  know  that  gems  are  sometimes  thus  found.  The  value  of 
the  Dysortville  diamond  as  a  jewel  will  hardly  represent  the  in- 
terest that  attaches  to  it  as  a  local  specimen  of  large  size  and  fine 
appearance. 

The  foregoing  list  includes  all  the  authentic  diamonds  thus 
far  discovered  in  North  Carolina.  A  number  of  small  stones, 
exhibited  as  diamonds,  have  been  found  at  Brackettstown. 
They  are  similar  to  supposed  diamonds  found  by  J.  C.  Mills 
at  his  mine  at  Brindletown,  but  these  were  transparent  zircon 
or  smoky-colored  quartz,  the  former  of  which  has  a  lustre  readily 
mistaken  by  an  inexperienced  person  for  that  of  a  diamond. 
A  number  of  pieces  of  rough  diamond,  exhibited  as  from  the 
same  section,  have  been  decided  to  be  of  South  African,  not 
Carolinian,  origin.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  few  legitimate 
discoveries  actually  made  in  this  locality  will  not  lead  to  decep- 
tions, which  would  greatly  retard  any  natural  development  of 
interest.  It  is  quite  possible  that  diamonds  may  be  found 
widely  distributed  throughout  the  auriferous  belt  of  the  Carolinas 
and  northern  Georgia  ;  and  that,  in  the  often  rude  and  hurried 
methods  of  gold-washing  employed,  they  may  have  been  over- 
looked in  the  past,  and  now  lie  buried  in  the  piles  of  sand  that 
stretch  for  miles  along  the  water-courses. 

It  would  naturally  be  expected  that  in  the  extension  of  the 
Piedmont  region  through  the  extreme  northwestern  part  of 
South  Carolina,  the  same  possibilities  of  diamond  discoveries 
would  exist.  The  reports  are  few  and  uncertain.  Mr.  Leven- 
thorpe,  already  referred  to,  has  stated,  in  writing  to  the  "  New 
York  Sun,"  that  in  1883  D.  J.  Twitty,  of  Spartanburg,  had  a  fine 
diamond  valued  at  some  $400,  that  was  obtained  from  a  place  in 
South  Carolina.  He  had  it  cut  and  mounted  as  a  stud  ;  but  it 
was  unfortunately  stolen  from  him  while  riding  in  a  car  in  New 
York  City.  The  loss  of  so  interesting  a  specimen  is  much  more 
than  that  of  an  ordinary  diamond  of  the  same  gem  value. 

On  passing  into  Georgia  the  same  metamorphic  belt,  with  its 
localities  for  gold,  itacolumite,  and  to  some  extent  diamonds,  ex- 
tends across  the  State  to  the  Alabama  line.  The  counties  in 
which  diamonds  are  claimed  to  have  been  found  are  Habersham, 
White,  Banks,  Lumpkin,  Hall,  Forsyth,  Gwinnett,  Cobb,  Clay- 


22  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE  * 

ton,  Bartow,  Carroll,  and  Haralson.  Dawson,  Cherokee,  Milton, 
and  Paulding,  lying  in  the  same  line,  and  very  possibly  other  coun- 
ties adjacent  to  the  metamorphic  belt,  should  perhaps  be  in- 
cluded in  the  list.  The  mode  of  occurrence  is  similar  to  that  of 
North  Carolina,  as  previously  described,  a  few  real  diamonds,  and 
many  supposed  ones,  having  been  found  in  connection  with  min- 
ing for  gold,  in  the  detritus  of  the  crystalline  rocks  spread  along 
streams  and  placers.  From  time  to  time  glowing  accounts  have 
been  published,  in  which  Georgia  is  announced  as  the  future  dia- 
mond-field of  the  continent ;  but  up  to  the  present  the  specimens 
actually  obtained  have  been  few  and  small,  and  it  has  not  been 
considered  worth  while  to  mine  for  them.  Of  these  diamonds 
interesting  stories  are  told.  An  Atlanta  lady  wears  in  a  ring 
one  of  the  best  specimens  ever  found  in  Georgia.  Another 
Georgia  lady  would  not  marry  until  her  prospective  husband  gave 
her  a  ring  with  a  Georgia  diamond  for  an  engagement  ring.  Sev- 
eral stones  have  been  lost,  and  it  has  been  found  that  they  were 
destroyed  by  ignorant  people  who  attempted  to  test  them.  The 
earliest  discoveries  reported  were  by  gold-washers  in  Hall 
County  over  forty  years  ago  and  later  in  White  County.  Most 
of  the  specimens  were  found  near  Gainesville,  in  the  troughs  and 
sluices  of  the  Hall  County  placers.  Two  small  crystals,  less  than 
i  carat  each,  are  in  the  cabinet  of  Samuel  R.  Carter,  of  Paris,  Me. 
They  are  opaque  and  without  definite  form.  They  were  found  in 
1866,  in  the  Racoochee  Valley,  White  County,  at  the  Horshaw 
placer  gold-mine.  One  was  discovered  by  Dr.  Augustus  C. 
Hamlin,  of  Bangor,  Me.,  and  the  other  by  H.  Ashbury.  An- 
other specimen  from  the  same  region  is  thus  described  by  C. 
Leventhorpe,  of  Patterson,  Caldwell  County,  N.  C.,  in  a  letter  to 
the  "New  York  Sun,"  in  August,  1883.  He  says  :  "  Numerous 
diamonds  have  been  discovered  in  Georgia.  After  the  war,  dur- 
ing the  prevalence  of  a  mining  fever,  a  company  was  formed,  I 
believe,  for  exploring  and  diamond  washings.  I  heard  nothing 
further  of  this  enterprise,  and  if  dividends  were  declared  the  an- 
nouncement escaped  my  notice."  There  is  in  the  writer's  posses- 
sion, a  rough  diamond  taken  from  a  "Long  Tom"  in  White 
County,  Ga.  It  is  of  very  perfect  water  and  crystallization, 
and  weighs  almost  a  carat.  The  "  Long  Tom  "  is  a  narrow 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  23 

plank  trough  set  with  a  steep  pitch.  An  iron  grating  at  its  lower 
end  closes  it  so  as  to  form  an  obtuse  angle.  The  detritus  from 
the  gold-bearing  streams  is  shovelled  into  this  box,  and  a  second 
operator  stirs  it  with  a  shovel  under  a  small  stream  of  water.  The 
coarser  gravel  is  thrown  out,  and  the  gold,  and  such  small  gravel 
as  may  possess  a  superior  gravity,  do  not  pass  off  with  the  cur- 
rent. It  was  thus  that  this  diamond  was  detained.  In  April, 
1887,  Lewis  M.  Parker,  a  tenant  of  Daniel  Light,  found  a  dia- 
mond on  his  farm,  situated  three-quarters  of  a  mile  northeast  of 
Morrow's  Station,  Clayton  County.  The  stone  afterwards  came 
into  the  possession  of  W.  W.  Scott,  of  Atlanta,  who  sent  it 
to  me  for  examination.  It  proved  to  be  an  octahedral  crys- 
tal weighing  4TV  carats  (12*672  grains),!  of  an  inch  long  and 

1  of  an  inch  wide  (9  x  lox  7  millimeters),  is  slightly  yellow  and 
has  one  small  black  inclusion.     It  would  afford  a  stone  from  ii  to 

2  carats  in  weight.     Its  specific  gravity  is  3*527.     Its  surface  is 
curiously  marked  with  long,  shallow  pittings.     L.  O.  Stevens,  of 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  has  communicated  to  the  writer  that  a  negro  called 
on  him  during  the  past  year  with  a  2-carat    diamond,  defective 
and  of  very  poor  color,  which  he  had  found  in  his  garden  a  few 
miles  from  Atlanta.     He  showed  no  desire  to  sell  the  stone  or 
loan  it   for  examination. 

A  book  by  Dr.  M.  F.  Stephenson l  records  some  of  the  exag- 
gerated accounts  of  Georgia  diamonds  that  have  been  given  in 
good  faith,  but  upon  mere  hearsay  evidence,  and  often  after 
years  have  passed.  Although  diamonds  have  been  found  in  Geor- 
gia, and  the  smaller  ones  mentioned  are  doubtless  genuine,  yet  it 
is  certain  that  in  some  instances  Dr.  Stephenson  was  unable  to 
discriminate  between  a  paste  imitation  and  a  genuine  stone,  and 
his  enthusiasm  may  have  overreached  his  judgment  in  other  cases. 
The  large  specimens  described  were  evidently  quartz  crystals  and 
not  diamonds.  This  is  almost  certain  as  to  the  one  mentioned 
which  was  used  for  a  marker  in  a  game  of  marbles  and  bore  con- 
siderable concussion,  as  a  diamond  could  not  withstand  this  con- 
cussion without  cleaving,  whereas  a  rolled  quartz  pebble  would  bear 
a  good  deal  of  such  treatment.  It  is  possible  that  quartz  crystals 
without  any  prismatic  faces,  like  those  found  in  Arizona  (hexag- 

1  Geology  and  Mineralogy  of  Georgia,  Atlanta,  1871. 


24  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

onal     dodecahedrons),    may    have    misled     the    Georgia    pros- 
pectors. 

Many  notices  have  from  time  to  time  appeared,  both  in  local 
newspapers  and  in  scientific  journals,  of  the  occurrence  of  dia- 
monds in  California.  After  making  due  allowance  for  errors  and 
unfounded  rumors,  the  fact  of  such  occurrence  in  certain  localities 
is  well  established  ;  but  the  number  and  size  of  the  diamonds 
found  have  not  been  such  as  to  render  the  search  for  them  profit- 
able. The  fact  of  their  discovery  is  highly  interesting,  and  some 
of  the  specimens  possess  both  elegance  and  value  ;  but  as  a  rule 
they  are  small  and  rare.  The  mode  of  their  occurrence  seems  to 
be  in  all  cases  that  they  are  imbedded  in  the  auriferous  gravels, 
and  thence  washed  out  in  the  search  for  gold.  These  gold-bear- 
ing gravels  of  California  present  two  types  of  distribution  :  first,  as 
loose  material  in  the  valleys  and  bars  of  the  modern  streams,  and, 
second,  as  great  accumulations  of  gravel  occupying  the  valleys  of 
much  larger  ancient  streams,  and  now  covered  with  masses  of  lava 
or  compact  volcanic  tufa.  The  sides  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  are 
trenched  with  cross-valleys  running  down  into  the  great,  trough- 
like  valley  of  California,  which  lies  between  the  Sierras  on  the 
east  and  the  Coast  Range  on  the  west.  Along  this  great  depres- 
sion, the  drainage  from  the  mountains  on  both  sides  finds  its  way 
to  the  sea  through  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  rivers,  the 
former  flowing  from  the  north  and  the  latter  from  the  south  into 
the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  where  a  break  in  the  Coast  Range,  at 
Golden  Gate,  allows  a  passage  between  the  ocean  and  the  bay. 
In  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  where  the  streams  from  the 
Sierras  run  down  to  the  Sacramento,  this  remarkable  system  of 
"buried  river  gravels"  is  found.  In  and  before  the  tertiary 
period  of  geology  these  streams  had  worn  valleys  on  the  slopes 
of  the  Sierras,  and  made  extensive  deposits  of  gravel,  by  the  ero- 
sion of  the  mountain-sides.  Then  came  a  period,  or  a  succession 
of  volcanic  disturbances  and  outflows,  which  made  the  great 
"  lava-beds"  of  northern  California  and  Oregon.  In  many  cases 
the  lavas  flowed  down  and  filled  up  the  river-beds  from  side  to 
side,  covering  the  gravel  deposits,  and  in  some  instances  hard- 
ening and  compacting  them.  The  rivers  have  since  then  worn 
down  a  new  series  of  channels  between  these  hard  lava-streams, 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  25 

and  the  old  river  gravels,  with  their  protecting  caps  of  volcanic 
rock,  are  now  seen  running  out  as  spurs  from  the  Sierras  and 
forming  the  divides  between  the  modern  streams.  The  latter 
have  formed  their  own  more  recent  gravels,  from  the  wear,  partly 
of  the  old  deposits  and  partly  of  the  mountain  sides,  as  at  first. 
The  surface-diggings  and  placers  of  the  early  prospecting  days  of 
California  were,  of  course,  in  these  modern  gravels  and  bars.  The 
older  gravels,  equally  rich,  are  worked  either  by  the  hydraulic 
process,  or  when  compacted  into  what  are  called  "  cement-beds," 
by  stamp-mills.  It  is  in  these  deposits  that  the  diamonds  have 
been  found,  picked  from  the  sluices  and  flumes.  In  the  case  of 
the  cement-beds,  only  fragments  are  obtained,  as  the  diamond- 
crystals  have  been  crushed  under  the  stamps.  There  is  much 
in  the  mode  of  their  occurrence  that  recalls,  at  first  sight,  the 
diamond  mines  of  Brazil  and  South  Africa.  In  Brazil  the  matrix 
is  also  a  gravel,  and  is  frequently  cemented  into  a  conglomerate 
("  cascalho  ")  by  oxide  of  iron.  In  Africa  the  diamond  gravels 
contain  associated  minerals  similar  to  those  found  in  some  of  the 
California  placers,  notably  in  those  of  Butte  County,  where  zir- 
cons, garnets,  and  rutile  are  met  with.  But  these  are  not  impor- 
tant relations,  and  afford  no  ground  for  assuming  either  a  similar 
richness  of  yield  or  an  identity  of  geological  origin. 

The  first  recognition  of  diamonds  in  the  State  goes  back  to 
the  early  gold-seeking  days  of  1850.  In  that  year,  Mr.  Lyman,  a 
clergyman  from  New  England,  was  shown  a  crystal  about  the  size 
of  a  small  pea,  with  convex  faces,  and  of  a  straw-colored  tint.  He 
saw  it  for  a  moment  only,  yet  its  general  aspect  was  enough  to 
identify  it  as  a  true  diamond,  and  the  interesting  fact  was  pub- 
lished.1 The  first  diamond  from  the  Cherokee  district,  Butte 
County,  was  obtained  in  1853.  This  has  since  proved  one  of  the 
principal  localities  in  the  State.  In  1854  Melville  Attwood 
called  attention,  in  a  newspaper  article,  to  the  general  similarity 
of  the  California  deposits  to  the  diamantiferous  gravel  and  con- 
glomerate of  Brazil,  with  which  he  had  become  familiar  by  a  res- 
idence there  of  some  years.  He  advised  that  search  be  made 
and  care  exercised,  lest  diamonds  should  pass  unheeded  in  the 
gold-washings.  Since  then  diamonds  have  been  reported  from 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.,  II,  Vol.  8,  p.  294.  Sept.  1849. 


26  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

a  number  of  points,  and  at  present,  according  to  Henry  G. 
Hanks,  the  State  Mineralogist,  five  counties,  Amador,  Butte,  El 
Dorado,  Nevada,  and  Trinity,  are  known  to  have  yielded  them. 
Other  localities  and  larger  numbers  are  yet,  in  his  judgment,  to 
be  discovered.  The  hydraulic  mining  is  in  some  respects  a 
wasteful  and  unfortunate  process,  as  the  force  of  the  current 
sweeps  away  the  greater  part  of  any  material  that  does  not 
amalgamate  with  the  mercury ;  and  thus  many  valuable  sub- 
stances are  probably  lost,  such  as  iridosmine,  platinum,  and  dia- 
monds. Moreover,  whatever  diamonds  occur  in  the  hard 
cement  are  crushed  into  fragments  by  the  stamps,  and  such  frag- 
ments and  particles  are  not  infrequent  in  the  tailings  and  sluices. 
The  following  is  a  brief  summary  of  the  principal  diamond 
discoveries  in  California  up  to  the  present  time,  arranged  by  local- 
ities. At  Indian  Gulch,  near  Fiddletown,  and  Jackass  Gulch, 
near  Volcano,  Amador  County,  numerous  diamonds  have  been 
found.  In  1867,  the  younger  Silliman  of  Yale  College  ex- 
hibited several  specimens  before  the  California  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences : 1  one  of  these,  a  little  over  i  carat  in  weight  (3*6 
grains)  was  from  near  Fiddletown ;  and  four  others  from  the 
same  region  were  at  that  time  known.  These  stones  occurred  in 
a  compact  volcanic  ash  or  tufa,  forming  a  gray  "  cement-gravel." 
At  Volcano  the  rock  is  similar,  and  some  sixty  or  seventy  dia- 
monds have  been  reported  thus  far.  This  is  one  of  the  places 
where  the  cement-rock  is  worked  by  stamping,  and  the  tailings 
show  pulverized  diamonds.  The  crushed  gravel  pays  well  in 
gold  ;  and  it  has  not  been  thought  desirable  to  change  the  pres- 
ent method  and  break  up  the  rock  in  other  ways  more  costly  and 
troublesome,  in  order  to  save  the  diamonds  that  it  may  contain. 
In  August,  1887,  Mr.  Hanks  exhibited  before  the  San  Francisco 
Microscopical  Society,  a  beautiful  stone  of  i '5  7  carat  weight  (4*97 
grains),  found  at  Volcano  in  1882,  and  belonging  to  J.  Z.  Davis, 
a  member  of  the  society.  It  is  a  modified  octahedron,  about 
TO  inch  in  diameter,  transparent  and  nearly  colorless,  though 
slightly  flawed.  The  curvature  of  the  faces  gives  the  crystal  a 
subspherical  form,  but  the  edges  of  the  pyramids  are  channels  in- 
stead of  planes.  Closer  examination  shows  that  the  channeled 

1  See  Proc.  Cal.  Acad.  Sci.,  Vol.  3,  p.  354. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  27 

edges,  the  convex  faces,  and  the  solid  angles  are  caused  by  an 
apparently  secondary  building  up  of  the  faces  of  a  perfect 
octahedron,  and  for  the  same  reason  the  girdle  is  not  a  perfect 
square,  but  has  a  somewhat  circular  form.  These  observations 
were  well  shown  by  enlarged  drawings.  The  faces  seem  to  be 
composed  of  thin  plates  overlying  each  other,  each  slightly  smal- 
ler than  the  last.  These  plates  are  triangular,  but  the  lines  form- 
ing the  triangles  are  curved,  and  the  edges  of  the  plates  are 
beveled.  Mr.  Hanks  remarked  that  it  could  be  seen  by  the  en- 
larged crystals  shown  under  the  microscope,  and  by  drawings  ex- 
hibited, that  each  triangular  plate  was  composed  of  three  smaller 
triangles  and  that  all  the  lines  were  slightly  curved.  The  build- 
ing up  of  plate  upon  plate  caused  the  channeled  edges  and  the 
somewhat  globular  form  of  this  exquisite  crystal.  A  close 
examination  of  the  crystal  revealed  tetrahedral  impressions,  as  if 
the  corners  of  the  minute  cubes  had  been  imprinted  on  the 
surface  of  the  crystal  while  in  a  plastic  state.  These  are  the  re- 
sult of  the  law  of  crystallography,  as  was  shown  by  the  faint  lines 
forming  a  lace-work  of  tiny  triangles  on  the  faces  when  the  stone 
was  placed  in  a  proper  light.  Mr.  Hanks  concluded  with  the 
remark  that  it  would  be  an  act  of  vandalism  to  cut  this  beau- 
tiful crystal,  which  is  doubly  a  gem,  and  he  protested  against 
its  being  defiled  by  contact  with  the  lapidary's  wheel.  The 
Cherokee  district,  in  Butte  County,  has  been,  from  as  early  as 
1853,  one  of  the  most  prolific  diamond  localities  in  the  State. 
Cherokee  is  near  the  North  Fork  of  Feather  River,  and  the 
geological  relations  of  the  diamonds  and  gold  are  essentially 
the  same  as  those  in  Amador  County,  a  hundred  miles  to  the 
northwest,  both  districts  lying  among  the  western  foot-hills  of 
the  Sierras,  as  previously  described.  Mr.  Hanks  calls  attention 
to  included  leaf-impressions  in  the  volcanic  beds,  as  proving  them 
to  be  tufas  and  not  lavas.  In  number,  the  Cherokee  diamonds 
obtained  are  about  equal  to  those  from  Volcano.  One  was 
shown  by  Professor  Silliman,  on  the  occasion  already  mentioned, 
in  1867  ;  and  others  were  then  known  to  be  from  that  locality. 
William  Bradreth  obtained  a  crystal  in  the  same  year  which  he 
afterward  had  cut  into  a  fine  white  stone  of  i-pj-  carats.  In 
1873,  several  were  obtained  from  the  ground  of  the  Spring  Val- 


28  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

ley  and  Cherokee  Mining  Company,  in  cleaning  up  the  sluices. 
One  of  these  was  described  as  large  and  straw-colored,  while 
others  were  smaller,  but  very  pure.  Various  stones,  white, 
yellow  and  pink,  have  from  time  to  time  been  reported,  and 
some  have  been  cut  and  set.  A  fine  crystal  was  presented  to 
the  State  Museum  by  Mr.  Williams,  Superintendent  of  the  Spring 
Valley  Mining  Company.  Two  others,  found  at  the  same  place 
in  the  summer  of  1881,  by  Lucinda  Voght,  were  shown  by  the 
present  writer  before  the  New  York  Academy  of  Sciences  in  1886. 
Professor  Silliman  made  the  concentrations  from  the  sluices  of 
these  Cherokee  mines  the  subject  of  a  minute  investigation,  the 
results  of  which  were  published  in  two  papers.1  In  the  first  he 
describes  his  treatment  of  the  material,  both  chemical  and  me- 
chanical ;  and  in  the  second  he  gives  additional  particulars,  with 
results.  He  finds  here  the  following  association  of  interesting 
minerals;  light-colored  zircons,  crystals  of  topaz,  fragments  of 
quartz,  rutile,  epidote,  pyrite,  and  limonite,  with  some  platinum, 
iridium,  iridosmine,  and  gold,  and  a  large  quantity  of  black  grains, 
which  are  proved  by  the  magnet  to  consist  about  equally  of  chro- 
mite  and  titanite.  At  first  he  could  find  but  little  of  the  platinum 
and  iridosmine,  but  this  was  due,  as  above  stated,  to  the  force 
of  the  hydraulic  streams,  which  sweep  away  all  small  particles  that 
do  not  amalgamate.  Mr.  Hanks  adds  that  platinum  minerals  have 
been  found  rather  abundantly  in  Butte  County.  At  St.  Clair 
Flat,  near  Pentz,  they  were  found  in  quantity  in  the  early  days  of 
placer-mining.  They  are  found,  also,  at  the  Corbier  Mine,  near  Ma- 
galia  (Dogtown).  In  1861,  a  diamond  was  found  one  and  a  half 
miles  northwest  of  Yankee  Hill,  Butte  County,  in  cleaning  up  a 
placer-mine.  The  stone  was  taken  from  the  sluice  with  the  gold, 
and  sold  to  M.  H.  Wells,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  this  in- 
formation. Mr.  Wells  presented  the  gem  to  John  Bidwell  of 
Chico,  who  had  it  cut  in  Boston.  It  weighed  i£  carats  (475 
grains).  Mr.  Bidwell  gave  the  diamond  to  his  wife,  who  now  wears 
it  in  a  ring.  This  was  the  only  diamond  found  in  this  locality.  In 
all  the  northern  counties  of  California,  drained  by  the  Trinity 
River,  in  the  vicinity  of  Coos  Bay,  in  Oregon,  and  on  the  banks 

1  See  Mineralogical  Notes  on  Utah,  California,  and  Nevada,  in  The  Eng.  and  Min.  J.,  Vol. 
17,  p.   148,  March  n,  1873,  and  the  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  6,  p.  127,  Aug.,  1873. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  2g 

of  Smith  River,  Del  Norte  County,  diamonds  are  very  likely  to 
be  found  in  the  flumes  and  sluices.  Diamonds  have  been  found 
at  a  few  points  in  El  Dorado  County.  In  1867,  Professor  Silliman, 
at  the  meeting  of  the  California  Academy  of  Sciences,  before  men- 
tioned, showed  a  crystal  of  i^  carats  (475  grains),  of  good  color, 
though  a  little  defective,  from  Forest  Hill.  It  was  found  at  great 
depth,  in  a  tunnel  run  into  the  auriferous  gravel.  W.  P.  Carpenter, 
of  Placerville,  gives  the  following  account  of  it  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Hanks,  in  1882:  "In  1871,  W.  A.  Goodyear,  Assistant  State 
Geologist,  while  examining  the  deposits  of  auriferous  gravels  in 
the  ancient  river  bed,  about  three  miles  east  of  Placerville,  found 
several  specimens  of  itacolumite,  and  expressed  the  opinion  that 
diamonds  should  be  found  in  the  gravels.  I  assisted  him  in 
searching  for  them,  and  we  found  several  in  the  hands  of  the 
miners.  Mr.  Goodyear  bought  one  of  them  as  a  geological  spec- 
imen. None  of  the  parties  who  had  them  knew  what  they  were, 
but  kept  them  as  curiosities.  The  gravel  in  the  channel  is  cap- 
ped with  lava  from  50  to  450  feet  in  depth.  Of  late  years  the 
gravel  is  worked  by  stamp  gravel  mills,  and  I  know  of  instances 
where  fragments  of  broken  diamonds  have  been  found  in  panning 
out  the  batteries." 

He  goes  on  to  give  the  particulars  of  about  fifteen  diamonds 
obtained  at  different  times  in  the  neighborhood,  some  yellow  and 
some  white.  One  of  these  was  a  nearly  spherical  crystal,  over  £ 
of  an  inch  in  diameter,  that  was  sold  in  San  Francisco  for  $300, 
and  another  was  sent  to  England  to  be  cut.  Professor  Silliman 
also  showed  to  the  California  Academy  of  Sciences  a  very 
clear  and  symmetrical  crystal  from  French  Corral,  Nevada 
County.  It  was  thrown  out  of  the  cement-rock  of  deep 
gold  washings,  as  usual,  and  weighed  if  carats  (5*11  grains). 
The  color  was  slightly  yellowish ;  but  this  was  perhaps  due  to 
its  having  been  exposed  to  a  red  heat,  as  a  test  of  its  authen- 
ticity. Prof.  Josiah  D.  Whitney  of  Harvard  College  stated,  at 
the  same  meeting,  that  diamonds  had  been  found  in  some 
fifteen  or  twenty  localities  in  the  State,  and  that  the  largest  that 
he  had  seen  was  from  French  Corral,  and  weighed  7^  carats. 
Some  small  ones  are  reported  from  Trinity  County ;  and  their 
mode  of  occurrence,  similar  to  that  of  the  diamonds  of  Cher- 


3O  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES   IN  THE 

okee  County  and  of  Oregon,  is  described  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Charles  F.  Chandler,  of  the  Columbia  College  School  of 
Mines.1  Prof.  Fredrich  Wohler,  of  Gottingen,  mentions  having 
observed  in  the  native  platinum  sands  of  the  Trinity  River, 
Oregon,  transparent  zircons  associated  with  laurite,  sulphide  of 
ruthenium  and  osmium,  iridosmine,  chromic  iron,  etc.,  and 
microscopic  rounded  crystals  which  he  supposed  were  diamonds. 
In  a  subsequent  communication,  dated  Gottingen,  August  8, 
1869,  Professor  Wohler  continues:  "On  examination  under  the 
microscope  the  mineral  powder  which  had  been  freed  from 
platinum,  gold,  chromic  iron  (in  part),  silica,  iron  and  tin,  and 
from  which  the  ruthenium,  etc.,  had  been  removed  by  aqua 
regia,  besides  many  grains  of  chromic  iron  and  beautiful 
hyacinth  crystals,  colorless  and  transparent  grains  resembling 
quartz  were  observed ;  but  besides  these,  grains  resembling 
rounded  diamond  crystals  were  detected."  He  then  describes 
in  full  his  methods  of  testing  these  grains,  and  expresses  his 
conviction  that  they  were  true  diamonds. 

A  few  small  diamonds  have  been  found  in  the  placer 
diggings  of  Idaho,  of  about  the  same  quality  and  occurring 
under  the  same  conditions  as  those  in  California.  In  neither 
region  have  they  been  made  the  object  of  special  search,  those 
found  having  been  picked  up  by  miners  while  washing  the  gravel 
for  gold.  Fragments  of  diamonds  have  been  noticed  in  the 
tailings  from  the  quartz  mills,  being  the  remains  of  stones 
broken  under  the  stamp.  About  twenty  years  ago,  quite  an 
excitement  prevailed  for  a  time  over  Idaho  diamonds.  Local 
and  mining  papers,  during  the  latter  part  of  1865  and  the  spring 
of  1866,  had  many  references  to  the  reported  or  anticipated 
diamond-yield  of  that  territory.  Small  crystals,  answering  to 
all  the  usual  tests,  were  said  to  be  abundant  in  a  tract  of  country 
some  forty  miles  square,  between  Boise  City  and  Owyhee. 
After  a  few  months  the  excitement  subsided,  and  the  ordinary 
quartz-crushing  industry  resumed  its  sway  over  the  attention  of 
the  people  and  the  press. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1883,  an  octahedral  diamond  is  said  to 
have  been  taken  from  a  placer  claim  called  Nelson  Hill,  near 

» Chemical  News,  Am.  Ed.,  Nov.,  1869,  and  Am.  J.  Sci.,  II.,  Vol.  48,  p.  44,  Nov.,  1869. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  3! 

Blackfoot,  Deer  Lodge  County,  Mont.  It  was  panned  out  by 
a  Chinaman,  who  handed  it  to  Edward  Mason,  one  of  the 
owners  of  the  claim.  The  latter  did  not  regard  it  as  of  any 
particular  value  and  left  it  lying  about  his  cabin.  Afterward, 
while  on  a  visit  to  Helena,  he  showed  the  stone  to  a  jeweler, 
who  examined  it  and  made  several  offers  to  purchase  it.  These 
Mr.  Mason  declined,  suspecting  that  the  stone  was  of  greater 
value  than  he  had  imagined.  He  subsequently  came  to  New 
York,  and  submitted  it  to  a  diamond-broker,  who  pronounced  it 
a  true  diamond.  According  to  a  recent  article  in  the  Butte 
"  Inter-Mountain,"  the  stone  is  retained  in  its  natural  state  by 
Mr.  Mason. 

A  few  years  ago  reports  were  started  of  the  finding  of  dia- 
monds in  central  Kentucky.  Prof.  Edward  Orton,  the  State 
Geologist  of  Ohio,  made  a  visit  to  that  district,  and  found  that 
it  presented  certain  resemblances  to  the  diamond-bearing  region 
of  South  Africa.  He  found  dykes  of  trap-rock  (peridotite)  break- 
ing through  fissures  in  shale,  and  spreading  to  some  extent  over 
the  adjacent  country.  Garnets  and  other  associated  minerals 
derived  from  the  decomposition  of  the  peridotite  were  found, 
suggesting  the  possibility  of  a  diamond  yield,  from  the  similarity 
of  the  conditions  to  those  of  Africa.  Similar  investigations  and 
results  were  reported  by  A.  R.  Crandall.1  It  had  been  previ- 
ously suggested  by  E.  J.  Dunn,  E.  Cohen,  H.  Huddleston,  and 
Rupert  Jones  that  the  South  African  diamonds  were  formed  in 
a  sort  of  volcanic  mud.  Mr.  Huddleston  thought  that  the  ac- 
tion was  hydrothermal  rather  than  igneous,  the  diamonds  result- 
ing from  the  action  of  steam  in  contact  with  magnesian  mud, 
under  pressure,  upon  carbonaceous  shales,  and  compared  the  rock 
to  boiled  plum-pudding. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Manchester  Literary  and  Philosophic 
Society,  held  in  October,  1884,  Sir  Henry  E.  Roscoe  presented  a 
paper  on  the  diamond-bearing  rocks  of  South  Africa,  in  which  he 
said  that  he  had  noticed  a  peculiar  odor,  somewhat  like  that  of 
camphor,  which  was  evolved  on  treating  the  soft  "  blue  "  diamond 
earth  with  hot  water.  He  powdered  a  quantity  of  this  earth  and 
digested  it  with  ether  ;  and  after  filtering  and  evaporating,  he  ob- 

1  Note  on  the  Peridotite  of  Elliott  County,  Ky.,  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  32,  p.  121,  Aug.  1886. 


32  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

tained  a  small  quantity  of  strongly  aromatic  crystalline  body, 
volatile,  burning  easily  with  a  smoky  flame,  and  melting  at  about 
50°C.  Unfortunately  the  quantity  obtained  was  too  small  to 
admit  of  a  full  investigation  of  its  composition  and  properties. 
He  suggested  that  perhaps  the  diamond  was  formed  from  hydro- 
carbon simultaneously  with  this  aromatic  body.  Prof.  H.  Carvill 
Lewis,  at  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association  at  Birmingham, 
in  September,  1886,  in  a  papier  "  On  the  Genesis  of  the  Dia- 
/mond,"  stated  that  from  the  De  Beers'  Mine,  in  South  Africa,  at 
a  depth  of  600  feet,  there  had  been  sent  him  specimens  of  unal- 
tered rock  which  proved  to  be  peridotite  containing  carbonaceous 
shale.  He  added  that  information  received  from  New  South 
Wales,  Borneo,  and  Brazil  led  him  to  believe  all  diamonds] 
to  be  the  result  of  the  intrusion  of  a  peridotite  through  carbon-/ 
aceous  rocks  and  coal  seams.  The  similarity  of  the  South  African 
peridotite  to  that  described  by  Joseph  S.  Diller  in  Kentucky  l 
led  Professor  Lewis  to  suggest  interesting  possibilities  as  to  the 
occurrence  of  diamonds  there ;  and  on  the  invitation  of  Prof.  John 
R.  Proctor,  State  Geologist  of  Kentucky,  in  the  summer  of 
1887,  Mr.  Diller  and  the  writer  were  sent,  by  Major  John 
W.  Powell,  the  Director  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
to  make  an  investigation.  The  locality  is  easily  reached  by  way 
of  the  East  Kentucky  Railroad,  which  ends  in  Carter  County,  at 
Willard,  where  conveyances  may  be  obtained  of  the  farmers  for 
the  remaining  ten  miles.  The  best  exposures  of  the  peridotite 
occur  along  Ison's  Creek,  in  Elliott  County.  The  peridotite 
alters  and  disintegrates  readily,  but  because  the  declivity  of  the 
surface  here  is  considerable,  the  transportation  of  material  almost 
keeps  pace  with  disintegration,  and  there  is  no  great  accumulation 
of  residuary  deposits  upon  the  narrow  divides  and  hillsides.  The 
specific  gravity  and  durability  of  the  gems  found  in  connection 
with  peridotite  are  generally  greater  than  of  serpentine  and  other 
products  of  its  alteration.  On  this  account  they  accumulate  upon 
the  surface,  and  in  favorable  positions  along  adjacent  lines  of 
drainage.  The  plan  followed  was  to  search  by  sifting  and  care- 
fully panning  the  beds,  receiving  the  drainage  directly  from  the 
surface  of  the  peridotite,  and  to  enlist  the  services  of  the  people 

*  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  32,  p.  121,  Aug.,  1886. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  33 

in  the  neighborhood  to  examine  the  steep  slopes  where  gems 
that  had  weathered  out  of  the  peridotite  might  be  exposed.  Par- 
ticular attention  was  directed  also  to  the  study  of  the  solid  rock 
and  residuary  deposits  which  so  closely  resemble  the  diaman- 
tiferous  material  of  South  Africa.  Till  this  time  the  actual  con- 
tact of  the  peridotite  and  shale  had  not  been  observed.  It  is 
exposed  in  the  bed  of  a  branch  of  Ison's  Creek,  within  100 
yards  of  Charles  Ison's  house.  The  intrusion  of  the  peridotite 
has  displaced  and  greatly  fractured  the  shale,  besides  locally 
indurating  it  and  enveloping  a  multitude  of  its  fragments.  The 
latter  are  dark-colored,  like  the  peridotite,  and  are  strongly 
contrasted  with  the  light-colored  dolomite  nodules  of  secondary 
origin.  Besides  pyrope  garnets,  a  few  of  which  are  suitable 
for  cutting,  several  fairly  good  specimens  of  pyroxene  were 
found  here,  resembling  the  same  transparent  mineral  from  Ari- 
zona. The  South  African  mineral  is  a  little  more  opaque,  but 
of  a  richer  green  color.  When  suitably  prepared,  they  will 
make  worthy  additions  to  the  gem  collection  of  the  United 
States  National  Museum.  An  altered  biotite  also  occurs, 
identical  with  the  South  African  vaalite.  During  a  careful 
search  over  a  small  area  for  nearly  two  days,  no  diamonds  were 
found,  but  this  by  no  means  demonstrates  that  they  are  not 
there.  The  similarity  between  the  peridotite  here  and  that  of 
the  Kimberley  and  other  diamond  mines  of  South  Africa  is  very 
striking  ;  and  when  this  fact  alone  is  considered,  the  probability  of 
finding  diamonds  in  Kentucky  seems  correspondingly  great ; 
but  when  it  is  noted  that  the  carbonaceous  shale,  and  not  the 
peridotite  itself,  is  the  source  of  the  carbon  from  which  the 
diamond  is  formed,  and  that  the  shale  in  Kentucky  is  much 
poorer  in  carbon  than  that  of  South  Africa,  the  probability 
is  proportionally  diminished.  Recent  excavations  have  shown 
that  large  quantities  of  this  shale  surround  the  South  Afri- 
can mines,  and  that  they  are  so  highly  carbonaceous  as  to 
be  combustible,  smouldering  during  long  periods  of  time  when 
accidentally  fired.  In  the  chemical  laboratory  of  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey,  J.  Edward  Whitfield  found  37*52  per 
cent,  of  carbon  in  the  shale  from  near  the  Kimberley  Mine, 
while  in  the  blackest  shale  adjoining  the  peridotite  of  Ken- 


34  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

tucky,  he  found  only  '68  per  cent,  of  carbon.  The  peridotite  at 
the  time  of  its  intrusion  must  have  been  forced  up  through  a 
number  of  coal  beds,  and  at  a  greater  depth  it  penetrated  the 
Devonian  black  shale,  which  is  considerably  richer  in  carbon 
than  the  shale  now  exposed  at  the  surface.  It  is  quite  possible, 
if  the  theory  of  the  origin  of  diamonds  proposed  by  Profes- 
sor Roscoe  and  independently  advanced  by  Professor  Lewis 
be  true,  that  a  number  of  diamonds  may  have  been  formed 
in  the  Kentucky  peridotite ;  but  the  general  paucity  of  carbon 
in  the  adjacent  rock  is  certainly  discouraging  to  the  pros- 
pector. The  best  time  to  search  for  gems  in  that  locality 
is  immediately  after  a  heavy  rain,  when  they  are  most  likely  to 
be  exposed  upon  the  surface.  It  is  proposed  to  continue  the 
search  economically,  by  furnishing  to  responsible  persons  living 
in  the  vicinity  a  number  of  rough  diamonds  mounted  in  rings, 
for  comparison,  that  they  may  know  what  to  look  for  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances. 

The  "Jewelers'  Review"  for  June,  1888,  gave  an  account  of 
a  diamond  from  Russell  County.  It  is  described  as  a  small 
octahedron,  with  curved  faces,  lustrous  and  nearly  white,  though 
with  a  yellow  tinge,  and  weighing  TV  of  a  carat.  It  was  found  in 
a  gravelly  field  on  the  top  of  a  hill  some  300  feet  above  Cabin 
Fork  Creek.  The  country  rock  is  said  to  be  composed  of 
granite  dykes,  slates,  and  some  floating  rocks,  such  as  quartz, 
feldspar,  magnetic  iron  ore,  flint,  garnet,  etc.,  mingled  in  clayey 
hills.  The  rocks  near  Montpelier,  Adair  County,  Ky.,  belong 
either  to  Keokuk  or  to  the  St.  Louis  group,  probably  to  the 
former.  From  the  absence  of  any  direct  geological  informa- 
tion concerning  the  two  counties,  they  have  been  referred  to 
these  groups  by  Professor  Proctor. 

Various  reports  of  the  discovery  of  diamonds  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  are  from  time  to  time  published  by  local 
papers ;  but  they  generally  prove  to  have  been  written  without 
exact  information  as  to  the  character  of  the  stone,  or  for  specu- 
lative purposes.  A  few  of  these  reported  diamonds  will  be 
referred  to,  of  which  only  the  following  are  known  to  be  gen- 
uine. Two  diamonds  have  been  on  exhibition  for  several 
years  at  the  store  of  Frederick  N.  Herron,  Indianapolis,  and 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  35 

are  reported  by  him  to  have  been  found  at  some  locality  in 
Indiana.  They  are  perfect  elongated  hexoctahedrons  of  2 
carats  each.  The  stones  are  genuine  diamonds,  but  the  particu- 
lars of  their  occurrence  and  discovery  have  not  been  obtained, 
and  therefore  nothing  definite  can  be  stated  regarding  them. 
J.  D.  Yerrington  of  New  York  city  has  had  a  brown  diamond 
weighing  i  carat,  that  will  yield,  when  cut,  a  gem  weighing  £ 
carat,  which  was  found  near  Philadelphos,  Ariz.  Two  pieces 
of  blue  bottle-glass  that  had  been  rolled  so  as  to  lose  all  form, 
were  naturally  supposed  by  the  finder  to  be  sapphires,  being  in 
the  same  locality  with  the  diamond.  It  is  stated  that  three 
diamond  crystals  were  obtained  many  years  ago  on  Koko  Creek, 
at  the  headwaters  of  the  Tellico  River,  in  East  Tennessee,  on 
the  "  bench  lands  "  of  the  Smoky  or  Qnaka  Mountains.  If  this 
statement  be  correct,  it  probably  points  to  a  western  extension 
of  the  diamond-belt  of  North  Carolina,  or  to  the  transportation 
of  the  stones  thence  by  streams. 

In  1884,  quite  an  excitement  was  aroused  in  Wisconsin  by  a 
reported  diamond-discovery  at  Waukesha,  in  that  State.  A  Mil- 
waukee jeweler  purchased  for  $i  from  a  lady,  a  stone  which  he 
stated  was  a  topaz.  It  was  said  to  have  been  found  at  a  consider- 
able depth,  in  digging  a  well  on  the  property  of  the  lady's  hus- 
band, at  Waukesha,  some  years  before.  Subsequently  it  was 
thought  to  be  a  diamond,  and  as  the  first  ever  found  in  Wisconsin 
was  valued  at  a  high  price  and  made  the  basis  of  much  local  ex- 
citement and  speculation.  The  land  where  it  was  found  was  pur- 
chased at  an  increased  price  and  two  other  small  diamonds  were 
produced  as  from  the  same  locality.  The  gravel  in  which  they 
were  claimed  to  occur  was  simply  the  ordinary  glacial  drift  of  the 
whole  region,  and  the  diamonds  have  the  aspect  of  being  African 
stones.  In  1888,  it  was  announced  that  a  fine  and  large  dia- 
mond of  over  80  carats  had  been  found  by  a  laborer  while 
attending  a  bowlder-crushing  machine  in  Cincinnati.  The  theory 
was  advanced  that  it  might  be  the  stone  lost  in  1806,  at  Blen- 
nerhassett  Island,  by  Mrs.  Clark,  and  described  by  Aaron 
Burr  in  a  letter  to  his  daughter.  The  story  lacks  foundation. 
Another  instance  is  that  of  a  stone,  supposed  to  be  a  dia- 
mond, found  in  working  for  coal  a  few  years  since  at  Ponca, 


3$  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

Neb.     Great  excitement  was  aroused,  but  the  stone  proved  not 
to  be  a  diamond. 

The  well-known  "  Arizona  diamond  swindle  "  was  a  clever 
one,  and  its  locality  could  hardly  have  been  better  selected  ;  but 
it  should  not  have  received  so  much  credence,  since  gem  minerals 
are  so  readily  recognized  through  their  local  characteristics  by  all 
collecting  mineralogists.  A  few  words  in  regard  to  this  cele- 
brated swindle  may  not  be  amiss.  Twenty  years  ago  fabulous 
stories  were  circulated  about  the  richness  of  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona.  Companies  with  high-sounding  titles  were  organized  to 
collect  not  only  the  diamonds,  but  the  rubies,  sapphires,  emeralds, 
and  other  gems,  which  were  said  to  abound  there.  In  1870,  a 
large  scheme  for  this  purpose  was  originated.  It  was  represented 
in  San  Francisco  that  Philip  Arnold  and  John  B.  Slack  had  found 
diamonds  and  other  precious  stones  in  great  quantities  in  a  cer- 
tain Territory  of  the  United  States.  Among  some  of  the  ob- 
jects shown  in  confirmation  were  80,000  carats  of  so-called  rubies 
and  a  large  number  of  diamonds,  one  of  108  carats  weight. 
These  gems  were  all  displayed  for  the  inspection  of  those  inter- 
ested in  the  scheme,  and  were  deposited  with  the  Bank  of  Cali- 
fornia for  safe-keeping.  Subsequently  the  same  parties  again 
visited  the  fields,  which  were  reported  to  lie  somewhere  in  New 
Mexico,  and  returned  with  another  lot  of  stones,  not  so  large  as 
the  former  ones,  however.  It  was  remarked  at  the  time  that  one 
could  scarcely  expect  to  pick  them  up  by  the  bushel.  Heavy  cap- 
italists on  both  coasts  soon  became  deeply  interested,  and  on  May 
10,  1872,  a  bill  was  passed  by  Congress  in  the  interests  of  the  dia- 
mond-miner. Finally,  a  party  composed  of  representatives  of 
both  the  East  and  the  West,  with  a  mining  expert,  a  graduate  of 
the  Royal  School  of  Mines,  Freiberg,  Saxony,  chosen  by  the  in- 
vestors, started  out  prospecting,  equipped  for  a  sixty  days'  expe- 
dition. They  left  Rawlins,  Wyo.,  May  28th,  first  taking  a  south- 
western course,  then  a  northwestern  course,  until  some  of  the 
party  thought  that  they  had  missed  their  way,  and  began  to  doubt 
the  truth  of  the  discovery.  But  when  the  mountain  was  reached, 
the  promised  Golconda,  every  one  picked  up  gems,  and  hope  rose 
correspondingly.  In  a  week  1,000  carats  of  diamonds  and  6,000  to 
7,000  carats  of  rubies  were  gathered,  and  the  party  returned,  well 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  37 

pleased  with  their  success.  Another  expedition,  setting  out  late 
in  the  season,  failed  to  reach  the  fields,  and  was  abandoned.  On 
hearing  of  the  failure  of  the  third  party,  Clarence  King,  Director 
of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  started  on  his  famous 
expedition,  which  proved  that  the  whole  affair  was  a  humbug  and 
that  the  mine  had  been  "  salted."  The  "  rubies  "  were  shown  to  be 
ordinary  garnets,  and  the  io8-carat  diamond  proved  to  be  a  piece 
of  quartz.  It  was  ascertained  that  an  American  had  purchased  a 
large  quantity  of  rough  diamonds  in  London,  regardless  of  their 
value,  and  so  plentiful  was  the  salting  that  some  years  afterward 
diamond  crystals  were  still  found  there.  A  number  gathered  by 
a  shoemaker  are  still  in  the  cabinet  of  Prof.  Joseph  Leidy,  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  Philadelphia.  So  carefully  was 
the  swindle  planned  that  an  eastern  expert  was  only  shown  a 
paper  of  cube  diamonds,  a  form  quite  rare,  and  peculiar  to  Bra- 
zil. About  $750,000,  taken  principally  from  capitalists  on  the 
California  coast,  was  realized  by  the  promoters  of  this  gigantic 
fraud.  Had  the  company  employed  a  competent  gem-expert  or 
a  gem-collecting  mineralogist,  no  such  swindle  could  have  oc- 
curred. The  expert  retained  by  the  investors  was  himself  de- 
ceived, and  this  fact,  of  course,  greatly  facilitated  the  fraud. 

To  insure  the  finding  of  diamonds  in  a  new  district,  one  of 
the  best  methods  is  to  familiarize  the  searchers  with  their  lustre. 
This  can  readily  be  accomplished,  and  was  once  partly  carried  out 
by  Dwight  Whiting,  of  Boston.  He  has  suggested  selling  to  the 
miners  small,  imperfect  diamond  crystals  (bort),  mounted  in  a 
very  inexpensive  manner,  so  that  the  entire  ring  or  charm  could 
be  sold  at  from  $5  to  $10.  Several  thousand  searchers  thus  pre- 
pared would  soon  ascertain  whether  diamonds  really  existed,  and 
the  crystal  would  also  serve  for  testing  the  hardness  as  well  as 
the  lustre  of  the  stone. 

A  geologist  of  North  Carolina  conceived  the  happy  idea  of 
interesting  the  children  of  his  vicinity  in  the  search  for  minerals. 
A  trifling  reward  was  sufficient  to  awaken  a  keen  interest,  so  that 
healthful  exercise  certainly,  and  often  valuable  specimens,  were 
the  result  of  his  plan.  Some  of  the  series  of  modified  quartz 
crystals  described  by  Prof.  Gerhard  von  Rath,  as  well  as  the 
beautiful  rutiles,  emeralds,  and  other  minerals  that  we  are  now 


38  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES 

familar  with,  we  owe  to  the  industry  and  sharp  sight  of  these 
children.  It  would  aid  much  in  the  development  of  new  min- 
eralogical  fields  if  this  plan  of  Mr.  Stephenson's  could  be  widely 
introduced.  One  of  the  minerals  most  likely  to  be  mistaken  for 
the  diamond  is  a  form  of  small  quartz  crystal  found  principally  at 
Santa  Fe  and  Gallup,  N.  M. ;  Fort  Defiance,  Ariz. ;  Deadwood, 
Dak. ;  and  Shell  Creek,  Nev.  These  crystals  range  in  size  from  i 
to  5  millimeters  and  the  prism  is  nearly  or  entirely  obliterated. 
In  addition  to  this,  as  a  rule,  the  surface  is  slightly  roughened, 
and  by  an  inexperienced  person  such  a  crystal  is  easily  mistaken 
for  an  octahedron,  which  is  almost  universally  considered  to  be 
the  only  diamond  3hape. 


CHAPTER   II. 


Corundum,  Sapphire,  Ruby,  Oriental  Topaz,  Oriental  Emerald,  Diaspore,  and  Spinel. 


CORUNDUM  is  nearly  pure  alumina  (A12  O3),  and  is 
found  in  almost  all  colors  of  the  rainbow.  The  trans- 
parent varieties  rank  among  the  most  valuable  of  gems. 
The  names,  ruby,  sapphire,  oriental  amethyst,  oriental 
emerald,  and  oriental  topaz  are  given  to  the  transparent  red,  blue, 
purple,  green,  and  yellow  varieties  of  the  mineral.  These  colors 
are  due  to  the  addition  of  minute  quantities  of  metallic  oxides 
to  the  alumina.  Its  specific  gravity  varies  from  3*97  to  4*05, 
and  its  hardness  is  9 ;  that  of  the  ruby  is  generally  about 
8 '8.  The  finest  pigeon's-blood-colored  rubies  are  found  at  Man- 
dalay  in  Burmah,  where  mines  have  recently  been  leased  by  a 
London  syndicate.  Fine  rubies,  which  are  generally  small, 
sometimes  of  a  pink  color,  and  often  with  a  currant-wine  or  pur- 
plish tint,  are  found  at  Ratnapoora  in  Ceylon  ;  likewise  in  Siam, 
where,  however,  the  color  is  most  commonly  a  dark  red,  almost 
that  of  a  garnet,  often  with  a  tinge  of  brown.  The  finest  sap- 
phires are  found  in  Burmah  or  Ceylon.  Some  of  the  finest  corn- 
flower blue  varieties  are  from  Ceylon.  Many  of  the  rich  velvety 
blue,  as  well  as  the  lighter-colored  stones,  are  from  the  Simla 
Pass  in  the  Himalayas.  Fine  sapphires  have  recently  been  found 
in  Siam  and  in  Australia,  the  latter  generally  of  an  opaque, 
milky-blue  color. 


39 


4O  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

Corundum  is  a  mineral  of  great  importance,  though  not  of 
frequent  occurrence ;  in  combination,  however,  especially  with 
silica,  alumina  enters  into  a  vast  number  of  mineral  species  and 
varieties.  Its  great  hardness  gives  it  value  as  a  polishing  mate- 
rial, and  as  such  it  has  no  substitute.  It  is  found  in  the  United 
States,  chiefly  in  the  crystalline  rocks  along  the  Appalachian 
Mountains,  from  Chester,  Mass.,  to  northern  Georgia,  and  also 
in  Montana.  At  Chester,  where  the  deposits  have  long  been 
known  and  worked,  the  mineral  consists  chiefly  of  emery,  which 
is  corundum  mixed  with  magnetite,  and  somewhat  softer  than 
corundum  alone.  No  gems  have  been  found  here.  At  Pelham, 
Mass.,  corundum  in  small  quantities  has  been  recognized,  and 
Prof.  Charles  U.  Shepard  1  found  asteriated  crystals  in  nodules 
of  cyanite  at  Litchfield,  Conn.,  also  at  Norwich,  Conn.,  where 
he  found  small  blue  crystals  enclosed  in  fibrolite.  It  is  likewise 
found  in  the  metamorphic  rocks  of  the  Highlands  of  New  York 
and  northern  New  Jersey.  At  Vernon,  N.  J.,  forty  years  ago, 
crystals  of  sapphire  and  ruby  corundum  were  found,  but  always 
opaque,  so  that,  while  many  specimens  were  obtained  from  this 
locality,  some  of  which  have  been  cut,  it  is  probable  that  none  of 
them  has  furnished  a  transparent  gem. 

It  is  of  interest  to  know  that  rubies  from  Mandalay, 
Burmah,  occur  in  similar  association  with  limestone  ;  hence  they 
are  generally  found  detached  and  separated  from  their  original 
matrix.  Some  handsome  cabinet  specimens,  showing  asterism, 
have  been  obtained  from  Delaware,  Chester,  and  Lancaster 
Counties,  Pa. ;  few,  however,  were  suitable  for  cutting.  Crystals 
have  been  found  in  Virginia,  in  Louisa  County,  and  near  Staun- 
ton,  Augusta  County. 

The  great  corundum  region  is  in  the  crystalline  rocks  of 
North  Carolina,  where  in  Madison,  Buncombe,  Haywood,  Jack- 
son, Macon,  and  Clay  Counties,  numerous  localities  are  known. 
A  second  and  a  third  line  of  localities  are  recognized,  but  they 
are  of  slight  importance.  According  to  Thomas  M.  Chatard,2 
of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  the  corundum  region 
extends  from  the  Virginia  line  through  the  western  part  of 

Deport  on  the  Geological  Survey  of  Connecticut,  p.  64,  New  Haven,  1837. 
'Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  p.  714,  1883-1884. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  41 

South  Carolina,  and  across  Georgia  as  far  as  Dudleyville,  Ala. 
Its  greatest  width  is  estimated  to  be  about  one  hundred  miles. 
This  belt  is  frequently  referred  to  as  the  chrysolite  or  chromifer- 
ous  series,  owing  to  the  presence  of  chrysolite  and  chromium, 
from  which  corundum  is  believed,  by  certain  authorities,  to  have 
been  derived  by  alteration.1  In  this  decomposed  and  altered 
chrysolite,  throughout  the  Southern  States,  corundum  is  found 
in  place.  Dr.  J.  Lawrence  Smith  says  that  "  outside  of  serpen- 
tine it  has  not  been  found,"  while  Professor  Shepard  says  that 
it  occurs  "  only  in  a  single  formation,  which  may  be  designated 
as  chrysolite  rock,  though  from  its  color  and  some  other  peculi- 
arities it  has  often  been  confounded  with  serpentine."  Charles 
W.  Jenks  gives  the  following  account  of  the  Culsagee  locality, 
which  is  typical  of  most  Southern  deposits.  He  says:  "The 
aspect  of  the  ridge  is  somewhat  barren,  like  that  of  all  the 
corundum  and  emery  localities  with  which  I  am  acquainted  in 
any  part  of  the  world.  The  granite  rocks  which  make  up  the 
principal  masses  of  the  mountains  have  been  fissured  with  a  large 
dyke  of  chrysolite  and  serpentine,  in  which  the  corundum-carry- 
ing veins  are  found.  These  veins  traverse  the  dyke,  and  are 
mainly  composed  of  chlorite  and  chloritic  minerals,  carrying  with 
them  corundum  in  massive  and  crystal  forms.  The  veins  are  five 
in  number,  dip  to  the  northwest  at  an  angle  of  45°,  and  contain 
the  mineral,  in  size  from  microscopic  crystals  to  those  of  from 
i  to  500  pounds.  The  two  varieties  of  chlorite  known  as  ripido- 
lite  and  jefferisite  form  the  usual  vein-gangue  or  matrix  of  the 
mineral.  Some  gem  masses  were  in  their  native  matrix  of 
ripidolite  between  hanging  walls  and  foot  walls  of  serpentine  ; 
others,  from  the  size  of  a  hen's  egg  to  a  fifty-pound  shot,  were 
found  locked  up  in  geodes  of  chlorite  ;  others  still  in  pockets  of 
partially  changed  or  decaying  schists  of  mica  or  talc."2  It  is 
believed  by  some  that  corundum  is  derived  from  the  breaking 
up  of  alumina  compounds,  especially  hydrates,  like  the  minerals 
diaspore  and  bauxite.  Professor  Genth,  in  his  monograph  on 
corundum,  refers  to  a  locality  near  Friendship,  in  Guilford 

1  See,   Corundum :    Its  Alterations  and  Associated   Minerals,    by    Frederick    A.  Genth,  in 
Contributions  from  the  Laboratory  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  No.  I.     Philadelphia,  1873. 
a  Corundum  and  Its  Gems.     A  Lecture  before  the  Society  of  Arts,  Boston,  1876. 


42  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

County,  where  corundum  is  found  associated  with  titaniferous 
iron  ore.  In  other  localities,  in  Gaston  and  Rutherford  Coun- 
ties, the  corundum  was  found  in  a  series  of  slates,  and  was 
regarded  by  Prof.  Ebenezer  Emmons,  Chief  of  the  North 
Carolina  Geological  Survey,  as  belonging  to  the  Taconic 
system.  At  these  places  it  is  found  associated  with  pyro- 
phyllite,  rutile,  damourite  and  lazulite.  Professor  Genth  says : 
"  There  are  reasons  to  believe  that  the  pyrophyllite  beds 
in  Orange,  Chatham,  Moore  and  Montgomery  Counties  are 
analogous  to  the  corundiferous  strata  of  Gaston  County, 
and  the  same  appears  to  be  true  for  those  at  Graves' 
Mountain,  Lincoln  County,  Ga."  At  this  locality  there  is 
also  to  be  found  lazulite  with  rutile  as  well  as  at  Crowder's 
Mountain  in  Gaston  County,  N.  C.  The  earliest  reference  to 
corundum  in  this  country  is  found  in  Silliman's  Journal  for 
1819,*  in  an  article  on  the  mineralogy  and  geology  of  parts  of 
South  and  North  Carolina,  by  John  Dickson,  who  sent  a 
number  of  specimens  to  illustrate  the  paper.  Among  these  was 
one  nearly  an  inch  in  length  and  very  like  the  East  Indian 
specimens,  which  Prof.  Benjamin  Silliman,  Sr.,  of  Yale  College, 
recognized  as  a  very  perfect  hexagonal  crystal  of  blue  corundum. 
The  locality  from  which  it  came  was  subsequently  found  to  be 
near  Anderson ville,  Laurens  District,  S.  C.,  and  it  has  lately 
yielded  a  large  amount  of  corundum  mingled  with  zircon.  The 
Massachusetts  emery  deposits  near  Chester  were  first  described 
by  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson2  and  later  by  Professor  Shepard3  and 
Dr.  Smith.4  The  Connecticut  localities  were  described  by  Pro- 
fessor Shepard,  and  that  at  Pelham,  Mass.,  by  J.  H.  Adams,  a  few 
years  later ;  meanwhile  the  Pennsylvania  corundum,  and  that  of 
Vernon,  N.  J.,  and  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,had  been  found.  Dr. 
Smith  writes5  that  this  mineral  was  first  discovered  in  North  Car- 
olina in  1846,  but  does  not  specify  where  or  by  whom.  Professor 
Shepard,  in  1872,  states6  that  he  had  received  an  hexagonal  prism 

I  Am.  J.  Sci.  I.,  Vol.  3,  p.  4,  1819. 

II  Am.  J.  Sci.  II.,  Vol.  39,  p.  88,  Feb.,  1865,  and  theProc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  His.  for  1864. 

8  Am.  J.  Sci.  II.,  Vol.  40,  p.  112,  Aug.,  1865;  Vol.  42,  p.  42,  Nov.,  1866;  Vol.  64,  p.  256, 
Oct.,  1868. 

« Am.  J.  Sci.  II.,  Vol.  42,  p.  83,  Aug.,  1866.         6  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  6,  p.  180,  Sept.,  1873. 
8  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  4,  p.  175,  Sept.,  1872. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  43 

of  ruby-red  color,  "  upwards  of  twenty  years  ago,"  from  a  gentle- 
man of  Macon,  Ga.,  who  said  that  it  came  from  a  gold  mine  in 
Habersham  County  of  that  State.  The  specimen  was  apparently 
a  loose  crystal  that  had  been  washed  down  to  the  placers  east  of 
the  Blue  Ridge.  About  the  same  time  Gen.  Thomas  L.  Cling- 
man  sent  him  several  pounds  of  a  coarse  blue  sapphire  broken 
from  a  large  crystal  "  picked  up  at  the  base  of  a  mountain  on  the 
French  Broad  River  in  Madison  County,  N,  C." 

This  is  probably  the  same  discovery  as  that  in  1846  or  1847, 
for  at  that  time  Madison  County  was  part  of  Buncombe  County. 
Dr.  C.  L.  Hunter  discovered  the  Gaston  County  corundum,  and 
Professor  Emmons  refers  to  it  in  his  report  on  the  midland  coun- 
ties of  North  Carolina  in  I853.1  The  civil  war  began  soon  after, 
putting  a  stop  to  further  research,  and  it  was  not  until  its  close 
that  investigations  were  resumed. 

Rev.  C.  D.  Smith,  of  Franklin,  N.  C.,  who  had  served  as  an 
assistant  to  Professor  Emmons  on  the  State  Geological  Survey, 
discovered  most  of  the  important  localities  in  North  Carolina.  In 
1865  a  specimen  was  brought  to  him  from  a  point  west  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  which  he  recognized  as  corundum ;  he  visited  the  lo- 
cality, found  the  mineral,  collected  specimens,  and  announced  the 
occurrence.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  mining  industry  now  so 
valuable.  These  discoveries  led  to  further  exploration,  and  many 
localities  were  found  in  the  same  region  which  have  since  been 
more  or  less  developed.  The  principal  deposits  that  are  now 
worked  are  the  Jenks,  Lucas,  or  Culsagee  Mine ;  Corundum 
Hill  Mine,  near  Franklin,  Macon  County,  N.  C. ;  the  Buck  Creek 
or  Cullakenee  Mine  in  Clay  County,  also  at  Laurel  Creek  in 
Rabun  County,  Ga.,  and  near  Gainesville,  Hall  County,  Ga.  The 
Jenks  Mine  is  on  the  Culsagee  or  Sugartown  fork  of  the  Ten- 
nessee River.  Its  two  names  are  derived  from  the  locality  and  from 
the  name  of  its  first  operator,  Charles  W.  Jenks,  of  Boston,  Mass. 
Prof.  Washington  C.  Kerr,  State  Geologist  of  North  Carolina, 
placed  the  mica-bearing  rocks  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Laurentian 
series,  identifying  them  provisionally  with  those  called  by  Dr.  T. 
Sterry  Hunt,  Montalban.  Thomas  M.  Chatard,  of  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey,  has  described  quite  fully  the  occur- 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  II.,  Vol.  15,  p.  373,  May,  1853. 


44  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

rence  of  corundum *  at  the  Culsagee  and  Laurel  Creek  localities, 
both  of  which  are  now  operated  by  the  Hampden  Emery  Com- 
pany, of  Chester,  Mass.  The  Culsagee  outcrop,  covering  some 
thirty  acres,  consists  of  chrysolite  (dunite)  mingled  with  horn- 
blende. The  corundum  is  enclosed  among  various  hydromica- 
ceous  minerals,  commonly  grouped,  under  the  term  chlorite,  be- 
tween the  gneiss  and  the  dunite,  from  the  alteration  of  which  they 
have  evidently  been  formed.  It  occurs  chiefly  in  crystalline  masses, 
often  of  considerable  size,  and  sometimes  suitable  for  gems. 
At  other  parts  of  the  mine  it  is  found  in  small  crystals  and  grains 
mingled  with  scales  of  chlorite,  forming  what  is  called  the  "  sand 
vein."  This  is  so  loose  and  incoherent  that  it  is  worked  by  the 
hydraulic  process ;  and  the  small  size  of  such  corundum  is  the 
saving  of  much  labor  in  the  next  process  of  pulverizing.  The 
Laurel  Creek  Mine  is  similar  in  character.  At  Buck  Creek  the 
chrysolite  rocks  cover  an  area  of  over  300  acres,  and  from  that  point 
southward  the  hornblende  rocks  assume  greater  proportions,  be- 
ing associated  with  albite  instead  of  the  ordinary  feldspar  and  form- 
ing an  albitic  cyanite  rock.  There  is  also  found  here  the  beautiful 
green  smaragdite,  called  by  Professor  Shepard  chrome  arfved- 
sonite,  which,  with  red  or  pink  corundum,  forms  a  beautiful  and 
peculiar  rock  curiously  resembling  the  eclogite  or  omphacite 
of  Hoff,  in  Bavaria,  Germany.  At  Shorting  Creek  in  Clay 
County  and  in  Towns  County,  Ga.,  there  are  also  corundum 
localities.  The  resemblance  in  the  occurrence  of  the  North  Car- 
olina corundums  to  that  of  Mramorsk  in  the  Ural  Mountains,  as 
described  by  Prof.  Gustav  Rose  of  the  University  of  Berlin,  has 
been  shown  by  Professor  Genth.2  There  the  associated  species 
are  serpentine  and  chlorite  schist,  sometimes  with  emery,  dia- 
spore,  and  zoisite,  very  similar  to  the  chrome  serpentine  corundum 
belt  of  the  Southern  States.  The  emery  deposits  of  Asia 
Minor  and  the  Grecian  Archipelago,  according  to  Dr.  J.  Lawrence 
Smith,3  yield  that  substance  in  marble  or  limestone,  overlying 
gneissic  rocks;  while  with  it  are  associated  many  of  the  same 
hydromicaceous  and  chloritic  species  that  accompany  both  the 
New  England  emery  and  the  Southern  corundum. 

1  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  p.  714,   1883-1884. 

9  Contributions  to  the  Laboratory  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  No.  I,  1873. 

*  Am.  J.  Sci.  II.,  Vol.  10,  p.  355,  Nov.,  1850;  and  Vol.  12,  p.  53,  Jan.,  1851. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  45 

With  more  particular  reference  now  to  the  actual  gems 
yielded  at  these  various  localities,  we  may  note  that  they  occur  in 
two  distinct  forms  :  first,  as  crystals,  of  which  the  usual  forms  for 
sapphire  are  doubly  terminated  hexagonal  pyramids,  often  bar- 
rel-shaped by  the  occurrence  of  a  number  of  pyramidal  planes  of 
successively  greater  angle ;  and  second,  as  nodules  of  purer  and 
clearer  material,  in  the  midst  of  larger  masses  of  ordinary  cleav- 
able  corundum.  The  latter,  when  broken  or  falling  out,  are  some- 
times taken  for  rolled  pebbles,  which  they  resemble. 

In  1886,  a  London  periodical  made  the  statement  that  any 
one  who  found  the  sapphire  or  the  ruby  in  its  original  matrix 
would  be  called  the  "  King  of  Rubies,"  and  that  his  fortune  would 
be  assured.  This  recalls  the  fact  that  Charles  W.  Jenks,  of  Bos- 
ton, was  the  original  finder  of  the  true  corundum  or  sapphire 
gems  in  place  in  the  Jenks  Mine  at  Franklin,  N.  C.,  and  that  he 
obtained  from  this  locality  nearly  all  the  fine  crystals  of  the  best 
American  collections.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these  is  a 
piece  of  blue  crystal  with  a  white  band  running  across  it  and  a 
place  in  the  center  where  a  nodule  had  dropped  out.  This  piece 
was  cut  and  put  back  in  its  place,  and  the  white  band  can  be  seen 
running  across  both  gem  and  rock.  (See  Colored  Plate  No.  i). 
Nearly  all  the  fine  gems  from  Franklin,  N.  C.,  were  brought  to 
light  by  Mr.  Jenks'  mining;  but  although  found  here  in  their 
original  matrix,  they  were  of  such  rare  occurrence  that  it  was 
found  unprofitable  to  mine  for  them  alone.  The  work  was  sus- 
pended for  some  time  in  consequence  of  the  financial  crisis  of  1873, 
but  has  lately  been  resumed  by  the  Hampden  Emery  Company, 
as  mentioned,  who  now  own  the  mines,  and  are  operating  them  for 
corundum  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  S.  F.  Lucas,  whose  name 
has  been  given  to  the  mine  at  Culsagee,  formerly  called  after  Mr. 
Jenks.  What  success  in  gem-discovery  is  at  present  attained,  it 
is  not  easy  to  learn.  Certainly  but  few  gems  have  appeared  in 
the  market  of  late  from  that  locality. 

The  largest  crystal  ever  found,  which  is  five  times  larger  than 
any  other  known  crystal,  is  one  early  discovered  by  Mr.  Jenks 
and  described  by.  Professor  Shepard.  It  is  now  in  the  cabinet  at 
Amherst  College ;  but  much  injured  by  the  disastrous  fire  of  1882, 
which  destroyed  so  many  fine  specimens  of  the  Shepard  Collec- 


46  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

tion  there.  This  crystal  weighs  3 1 2  pounds,  is  perfectly  termin- 
ated, partly  red  and  partly  blue  in  color,  but  opaque.  (See  Illus- 
tration). Another  large  crystal,  also  obtained  by  Mr.  Jenks  and 
purchased  by  Professor  Shepard,  weighed  nf  pounds.  These 
two  specimens  are  more  fully  described  as  follows :  The  largest  is 
red  at  the  surface,  but  of  a  bluish-gray  color  within.  The  gene- 
ral figure  is  pyramidal,  showing,  however,  more  than  a  single  six- 
sided  pyramid,  whose  summit  is  terminated  by  a  rather  uneven 
and  somewhat  undefined  hexagonal  plane.  The  smaller  crystal  is 
a  regular  hexagonal  prism,  well  terminated  at  one  of  its  extremi- 
ties, the  other  being  drusy  and  incomplete.  The  general  color  is 
a  grayish-blue,  though  there  are  spots,  particularly  near  the  angles, 
of  a  pale  sapphire  tint.  Its  greatest  breadth  is  6  inches  and  its 
length  over  5.  Some  of  the  lateral  planes  are  coated  in  patches 
with  a  white,  pearly  margarite.  Only  the  smaller  crystals 
found  at  Franklin  furnish  material  suitable  for  use  in  jewelry. 
They  are  frequently  transparent  near  their  extremities,  so 
that  small  gems  can  be  cut  from  them;  but  scarcely  any  of 
those  thus  far  obtained  are  worth  $100  and  not  100  have  been 
found  in  all. 

In  variety  of  color  the  North  Carolina  corundum  excels ;  it  is 
gray,  green,  rose,  ruby-red,  emerald-green,  sapphire-blue,  dark- 
blue,  violet,  brown,  yellow  of  all  intervening  shades  and  colorless. 
Many  specimens  have  been  cut  and  mounted,  especially  of  the 
blue  and  red  shades,  and  make  good  gems,  though  not  of  the 
choicest  quality.  The  two  finest  rubies  are  in  the  collection  of 
Clarence  S.  Bement,  of  Philadelphia,  in  a  suite  of  the  choicest  crys- 
tals found  at  the  Culsagee  Mine.  Among  these  is  probably  the  fin- 
est known  specimen  of  emerald-green  sapphire  (oriental  emerald). 
It  is  the  transparent  part  of  a  crystal  of  corundum,  4x2x1^ 
inches,  from  which  could  be  cut  several  pieces  that  would  together 
furnish  from  80  to  100  carats  of  very  fine,  almost  emerald-green 
gems  (not  too  dark,  as  in  the  Siamese),  the  largest  possibly  20 
carats  or  more  in  weight.  As  its  color  is  one  of  the  rarest  known, 
it  makes  this  specimen  a  very  valuable  one.  There  is  in  this  col- 
lection a  beautiful  crystal  of  yellow  and  blue  in  consecutive  bands 
(see  Colored  Plate  No.  i),  from  which  it  is  estimated  that  at 
least  $1,000  worth  of  gems  could  be  cut.  A  dark-blue  stone  of 


GREAT  CRYSTAL  OF  SAPPHIRE 

IN   THE   SHEPARD    COLLECTION,   AMHERST  COLLEGE 


OF  THE 

WIVEE3IT7 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  47 

I  carat  weight  is  in  the  United  States  National  Museum  at  Wash- 
ington,   and  a   series   of  fine  red  and  blue  crystals  have   been 
deposited  there  by  S.  F.  Lucas.     In  the  collection  disposed  of  by 
Prof.  Joseph  Leidy,  of  Philadelphia,  a  few  years  ago,  were  sev- 
eral gems  from  the  same  mine,  including  a  wine-yellow  sapphire 
of  3^  carats  (660  milligrams)  ;  a  violet-blue  stone  of  a  little  over 
i  carat  (215  milligrams)  ;  and  three  dark-blue  ones  weighing  re- 
spectively about  i^  (320  milligrams),  i£  (250  milligrams)  and  f 
(145  milligrams)  carats  each.     In  Professor  Genth's  suite  of  co- 
rundums  are  some  from  North  Carolina  and  Pennsylvania  that 
would  afford  opalescent  stones  with  fixed  stars  and  other  inter- 
esting forms.    Many  fine  examples  of  corundum  from  Pennsylvania 
are  in  the  cabinets  of  W.  W.  Jefferis,  now  of  Philadelphia,  Lewis 
W.  Palmer,  of  Media,  and  Dr.  Cardesa,  of  Claymont.     Specimens 
from  Pennsylvania  and  North  Carolina  are  also  to  be  found  in  the 
cabinets  of  Joseph  Wilcox  and  Dr.  Isaac  Lea,  and  in  the  William 
S.  Vaux  cabinet  at  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences. 
Near  the  Franklin,  N.  C.,  locality  there  has  been  obtained  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  a  brown  variety  of  corundum,1  which  shows 
distinct  asterism,  both  by  artificial  light  and  in  the  sunlight,  when 
the   stone    is   cut  en  cabochon.     A   similar   variety,  though   of 
darker  brown,  with  a  bronze-like  reflection,  has  also  been  found, 
some  twelve  miles  from  Franklin,  by  Mr.  Chatard.     These  all 
show  a  slight  bronze  play  of  light  on  the  dome  of  the  cabochon  in 
ordinary  light,  and  under  artificial  light  they  show  well-defined  stars, 
being  really  asterias  or  star-sapphires,  and  not  cat's-eyes,  as  might 
seem  at  first  sight  to  be  the  case.    Similar  light-brown  corundums, 
showing  asteriation  and  cleavage  faces  of  the  crystals,  are  found  in 
Delaware  County,  Pa.     A  fine  opalescent  variety  of  deep  indigo 
color  is  reported  by  E.  A.  Hutchins,  as  obtained  by  him  from  near 
Franklin  and  elsewhere  in  Macon  County.     Red  and  pink  corun- 
dum is  found  at  the  Cullakenee  Mine,  in  Buck  County,  and  also 
at  Penland's,  on  Shooting  Creek,  in  Clay  County.     From  the  for- 
mer locality  there  is  a  fine  ruby-colored  specimen  in  the  cabinet 
of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  and  in  the  Vaux 
Collection  a  remarkable  black  crystal,  the  locality  given  for  which 
is  Buncombe  County. 

1  Transactions  New  York  Academy  of  Sciences,  p.  52,  Jan.,  1884. 


48  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES    IN   THE 

Among  other  varieties  found  at  various  points  in  North  Car- 
olina, the  following  may  be  noted :  Two  miles  northeast  of  Pigeon 
River,  near  the  crossing  of  the  Asheville  road,  in  Haywood 
County,  and  two  miles  north  of  this,  on  the  west  fork  of  Pigeon 
River,  at  Presley  Mine,  are  found  some  of  the  finest  colored  spec- 
imens of  blue  and  grayish-blue  corundum.  Twenty  miles  north- 
east of  this,  at  the  Carter  Mine,  fine  white  and  pink  corundum 
occurs  in  crystals  and  in  a  laminated  form.  Blue,  bluish-white 
and  reddish  varieties  occur  at  Swannanoa  Gap,  Buncombe  County. 
J.  A.  D.  Stephenson  found  fine  hexagonal  prisms  of  a  pale  brown- 
ish corundum  at  Belt's  Ridge  and  more  recently  some  very  fine, 
fair  colors  from  several  new  localities  near  Statesville.  Fine  crys- 
tals have  also  been  found  in  the  Hogback  Mine,  Jackson  County. 

The  chief  locality  for  gem-sapphires  in  the  United  States 
is  near  Helena,  Mont.,  where  they  occur  as  loose  crystals, 
usually  small,  but  often  transparent  and  of  good  colors.  They 
are  found  on  bars  in  the  Upper  Missouri  River,  more  or  less 
rolled  among  gravel,  and  in  the  riffles  and  sluices  of  the  gold- 
washers,  with  the  gold,  garnets  and  other  heavy  minerals  of 
the  placer  mines.  Dr.  J.  Lawrence  Smith  was  the  first  to 
describe  these  Montana  sapphires,  as  follows  :  "  These  pebbles 
are  found  on  the  Missouri  River  near  its  source,  about  sixty-one 
miles  above  Benton ;  they  are  obtained  from  bars  on  the  river, 
of  which  there  are  some  four  or  five  within  a  few  miles  of  each 
other.  In  the  mining  region  of  tKis  territory  considerable 
gold  is  found  on  these  bars,  it  having  been  brought  down  the 
river  and  lodged  there,  and  the  bars  are  now  being  worked  for 
gold.  The  corundum  is  scattered  through  the  gravel  (which  is 
about  5  feet  deep)  upon  the  rock  bed.  Occasionally  it  is 
found  in  the  gravel  and  upon  the  rock  bed  in  the  gulches,  from 
40  to  50  feet  below  the  surface,  but  it  is  very  rare  in  such 
localities." 1 

It  is  most  abundant  upon  the  Eldorado  bar,  situated  on  the 
Missouri  River  about  20  miles  from  Helena,  where,  at  one  time, 
a  man  could  collect  from  i  to  2  pounds  a  day.  Some  of  these 
have  been  cut,  and  one  very  perfect  stone  of  3^  carats  and  of 
good  green  color,  almost  equal  to  the  best  oriental  emerald,  has 

'Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  6,  p.  185,  Sept.,  1873. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  49 

been  obtained.  The  Montana  specimens  rarely  exceed  i  inch 
to  £  inch  in  length.  (See  Colored  Plate  No.  i.)  They  are 
brilliant  but  usually  of  pale  tints.  Two  gems  are  in  the  Amherst 
College  Collection,  which  weigh  about  |  carat  each.  One  is 
a  true  ruby-red,  and  the  other  a  sapphire-blue,  colors  rarely  met 
with  here.  The  gems  are  usually  of  a  light-green,  greenish-blue, 
light-blue,  bluish-red,  light-red  and  red,  and  the  intermediate 
shades.  They  are  usually  dichroitic,  and  often  blue  in  one 
direction  and  red  in  another,  or  when  viewed  through  the  length 
of  the  crystal,  and  frequently  all  the  colors  mentioned  will 
assume  a  red  or  reddish  tinge  by  artificial  light.  A  fine  one  of 
9  carats  was  found  of  a  rich  steel-blue.  A  very  beautiful  piece 
of  jewelry,  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  was  made  of  these  stones 
by  Tiffany  &  Co.,  in  1883  ;  at  one  end  the  stones  were  red, 
shaded  to  bluish-red  in  the  center,  and  blue  at  the  other  end  ; 
by  artificial  light  the  color  of  all  turned  red.  Perfect  gems  of 
from  4  to  6  carats  each  are  frequently  met  with.  Occasionally 
crystals  are  found  which  would  afford  ruby  and  sapphire  asterias 
of  a  poor  quality.  The  value  of  the  gems  cut  from  material 
found  in  this  district  amounted  at  one  time  to  fully  $2,000  a 
year.  Many  are  found  that  are  never  cut,  for  it  requires  greater 
skill,  involving  much  higher  cost,  to  cut  sapphire,  than  gems  which 
are  less  hard.  In  the  latter  part  of  1889  specimens  were  shown 
to  the  writer  of  a  trachyte  rock,  imbedded  in  which  were 
well-defined  crystals  of  sapphire,  similar  to  those  found  on  the 
Eldorado  bar,  from  a  dyke  on  the  Missouri  River  near  and  above 
that  locality.  The  sapphire  on  Eldorado  bar  evidently  came  from 
this  rock,  and,  on  its  disintegration,  was  washed  down  the  river. 


CORUNDUM 


Silica 3-28 

Alumina 85-75 

Ferric  Oxide 4  •  26 

Titanic  Oxide 2 '  74 

Magnesia trace 


Lime I'QQ 

Water 1-37 

Color red  to  gray 

Locality Shimerville,  Pa. 

Analyst Edgar  F.  Smith  » 


Sapphires  are  obtained  to  a  limited  extent  in  Colorado. 
William  B.  Smith  states,  in  the  "  Proceedings  of  the  Colorado 
Scientific  Society,1'  that  near  Calumet,  about  twelve  or  fourteen 
miles  from  Salida,  corundum  is  found  in  what  has  proved  to  be 
a  corundum  schist.  The  crystals  are  in  flat  hexagonal  plates, 

1  Am.  Chem.  J.,  Vol.  5,  p.  272. 


5O  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

have  a  bluish  tinge,  in  some  cases  quite  deep,  and  are  from  i  to 
5  millimeters  ('039  to  "196  inch)  in  thickness.  Hoffman  men- 
tions corundum  occurring  in  fragments  near  Silver  Peak,  Nev.1 
Rubies  and  sapphires  have  been  erroneously  reported  to  be 
found  in  the  surface  sands  and  gravels  of  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico,  associated  with  the  pyrope  garnet. 

SPINEL 

crystallizes  in  the  isometric  system,  and  is  generally  found  in  the 
form  of  octahedrons.  Its  hardness  is  8  and  its  specific  gravity 
about  3*65.  Following  the  order  of  the  rainbow,  it  exists  in  all 
shades  of  red,  orange,  green,  blue,  and  indigo,  as  well  as  white 
and  black.  The  crimson  and  flame-red  colored  varieties  are  ex- 
ceedingly beautiful.  The  red  is  called  ruby  spinel,  and  fine  stones 
command  high  prices.  Spinel  is  found  associated  with  ruby  in 
Burmah,  Ceylon,  and  Siam.  Its  composition  consists  of  one  mol- 
ecule each  of  alumina  and  magnesia,  equivalent  to  72  per  cent,  of 
alumina  and  28  of  magnesia. 

Spinel  fine  enough  to  cut  into  gems  has  been  only  occasion- 
ally met  with  in  the  United  States.  The  Rev.  Alfred  Free  of 
Toms  River,  N.  J.,  had  in  his  possession  at  one  time  cut  gems  of 
a  smoky  blue  or  velvety  green  and  a  dark-tinted  claret  color, 
from  the  locality  near  Hamburgh,  Sussex  County,  N.  J.  They 
were  all  good  specimens,  weighing  about  2  carats  each.  Some 
half  dozen  from  San  Luis  Obispo,  Cal.,  of  very  good  quality 
and  weighing  about  2  carats  each,  were  brought  to  the  notice  of 
the  writer  by  James  W.  Beath,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.  Silas  C. 
Young,  who,  for  over  twenty  years  has  collected  minerals  in 
Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  writes  that  in  his  extensive  working  for 
minerals  he  has  found  small  ruby  spinels,  also  others  of  a  smoky 
and  purple  tint,  sufficiently  clear  to  cut.  The  locality  at  Ham- 
burgh, N.  J.,  was  discovered  by  his  father  over  fifty  years  ago. 

The  region  of  granular  limestone  and  serpentine  in  which 
spinels  abound  extends  from  Amity,  N.  Y.,  to  Andover,  N.  J.,  a 
distance  of  thirty  miles.  Monroe,  Norwich,  and  Cornwall,  N.  Y., 
are  well-known  localities.  The  finest  crystals  from  the  locality 
known  as  Monroe,  N.  Y.,  are  in  the  Vaux  and  Bement  Collec- 

1  Mineralogy  of  Nevada. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  51 

tions,  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  Amherst  College  Collection. 
The  place  that  furnished  the  monster  spinel  crystals  so  well- 
known  to  collectors  of  twenty  years  ago,  is  probably  somewhere 
between  Monroe  and  Southfield.  Its  exact  situation  was  known 
only  to  the  two  collectors,  Silas  Horton  and  John  Jenkins,  both 
now  deceased,  who  secretly  worked  the  locality  some  years  by 
moonlight,  and  from  it  took  crystals  that  realized  for  them  over 
$6,000,  although  many  fine  crystals  were  ruined  in  blasting  and 
breaking  out.  Since  the  death  of  these  workers  the  location  has 
been  lost. 

The  gahnite  green  spinel  from  the  Deak  Mine,  Mitchell 
County,  N.  C.,  is  of  a  very  dark-green  color,  translucent  on  the 
edges,  and  appears  to  be  compact  enough  for  cutting.  The  lo- 
calities of  Franklin  and  Sterling,  N.  J.,  have  afforded  some  of  the 
finest  known  crystals  of  this  mineral,  some  of  which  would  cut 
into  mineralogical  gems.  At  the  lead  mine  at  Canton,  Ga.,  some 
fine  crystals  were  found  implanted  on  galenite.  Professor  Genth 
mentions  in  his  "  Contributions  to  Mineralogy  "  large,  rough  crys- 
tals, 3^  inches  (9  centimeters)  long,  from  the  Cotopaxi  Mine, 
Chaff ee  County,  Col.  In  a  specimen  of  gahnite  sent  the  writer 
from  a  lead  mine  in  New  Mexico  the  crystals  were  bright, 
polished  octahedrons,  from  1  to  f  inch  across,  translucent  on  the 
edges,  imbedded  in  galenite.  This  most  interesting  and  curious 
association  was  accompanied  with  massive  garnet.  The  locality 
may  rightfully  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  for  this 
variety,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  more  exact  information 
cannot  be  obtained  regarding  it.  Gahnite  is  found  in  the  pyrite 
mines,  associated  with  iron  pyrite /quartz,  at  Rowe,  Mass.,1  the 
larger  crystals  having  a  diameter  of  £  inch. 

DIASPORE 

This  is  an  aluminium  hydrate,  with  a  hardness  of  about  7 
and  a  specific  gravity  of  3*4. 

Probably  the  finest  known  diaspores  are  those  which  were 
found  with  corundum  near  Unionville,  Chester  County,  Pa. 
There  crystals  have  been  obtained  from  $  to  i^  inches  in  length, 
and  i  inch  in  thickness,  the  color  varying  from  white  to  a  fawn 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  29,  p.  455,  June,  1885. 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 


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53 


color,  inclining  to  a  topaz-yellow,  while  some  are  of  a  slightly 
brownish  tint.  They  closely  approach  topaz  in  appearance,  and 
would  afford  gems  as  fine  as  any  yet  obtained.  The  best  of 
these  specimens  are  in  the  cabinets  of  Dr.  Isaac  Lea  and  Joseph 
Wilcox,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.  At  the  emery  mines  of  Chester, 
Mass.,  have  been  found  masses  of  small  crystals,  which  might  be 
cut  into  minute  cabinet  gems.  Joseph  C.  Trau twine,  of  Phila- 
delphia, obtained  some  minute  acicular  crystals  in  a  cavity  of 
massive  corundum  at  the  Culsagee  Mine  in  North  Carolina. 
Gen.  Thomas  L.  Clingman  also  observed  the  mineral  associated 
with  blue  corundum  near  Marshall,  Madison  County,  N.  C. 


x*ST  TO  >  s^iwr^'^S^^W^"\as*r 

y^W^/^K^SSKfK 


CHAPTER    III. 


T 


Turquoise. 

^URQUOISE  is  a  hydrated  phosphate  of  alumina  some- 
times containing  small  quantities  of  copper,  iron,  or 
manganese.  Its  hardness  is  6,  and  specific  gravity 
2*75.  The  finest  varieties,  which  generally  do  not  lose 
their  color  easily,  have  been  for  centuries  found  in  small  veins  in 
a  clay  slate  in  the  vicinity  of  Nishapoor,  Persia.  Large  quanti- 
ties are  brought  from  Egypt,  but  this  variety,  although  dark-blue 
when  found,  often  changes  in  a  short  time  to  a  verdigris  green. 

This  mineral  is  found  at  Los  Cerrillos,  N.  M. ;  Turquoise 
Mountain,  Cochise  County,  Ariz. ;  Mineral  Park,  Mohave  County, 
Ariz.  ;  near  Columbus,  Nev. ;  Holy  Cross  Mountain,  Col. ;  and 
Taylor's  Ranch,  Fresno  County,  Cal.  The  first-named  locality  is 
part  of  a  group  of  conical  mountains  situated  about  twenty-two 
miles  southeast  of  Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  and  north  of  the  Placer  or 
Gold  Mountains,  from  which  they  are  separated  by  the  valley  of 
the  Galisteo  River.  The  rocks  of  which  they  are  composed  are 
yellow  and  gray  quartzite  sandstones  and  porphyry  dykes.  Prob- 
ably the  sandstones  are  of  the  Carboniferous  period,  and  they  are 
so  much  uplifted  and  metamorphosed  that  the  sedimentary  char- 
acter is  partly  obliterated.  William  P.  Blake  describes  the  local- 
ity as  being  an  immense  pit,  with  precipitous  sides  of  angular 
rock,  projecting  in  crags,  sustaining  in  the  fissures  a  growth  of 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES  55 

pines  and  shrubs.  On  one  side,  the  rocks1  tower  into  a  precipice, 
and  so  overhang  as  to  form  a  cave,  at  another  place  the  side  is 
low,  and  formed  by  the  broken  rocks  that  were  removed  from  the 
top  of  the  cliff.  The  excavations,  which  appear  to  be  about  200 
feet  in  depth  and  300  or  more  in  width,  were  made  in  the  solid 
rock,  and  thousands  of  tons  of  rock  have  been  broken  out.  The 
lower  part  of  the  working  is  funnel-shaped,  and  is  formed  by  the 
sloping  banks  of  the  ddbris  or  fragments  of  the  side  walls.  On 
the  debris,  at  the  bottom  of  the  pit,  and  on  the  bank  of  the  refuse 
rock,  pine  trees  are  now  growing.  There  are  several  other  pits  in 
the  vicinity  more  limited  in  extent,  and  some  of  them,  apparently, 
more  recently  excavated.  Prof.  Benjamin  Silliman,  Jr.,  who 
visited  this  locality  in  1880,  states :  "  The  age  of  eruption  of  these 
volcanic  rocks  is  probably  tertiary.  The  rocks  which  form 
Mount  Chalchihuitl  are  at  once  distinguished  from  those  of  the 
surrounding  and  associated  ranges  of  the  Cerrillos  by  their  white 
color  and  decomposed  appearance,  closely  resembling  tufa  and 
kaolin,  and  giving  evidence  of  extensive  alteration,  due  probably 
to  the  escape  through  them,  at  this  point,  of  heated  vapors  of 
water  and  perhaps  of  other  vapors  or  gases,  by  the  action  of 
which  the  original  crystalline  structure  of  the  mass  has  been  com- 
pletely decomposed  or  metamorphosed  with  the  production  of 
new  chemical  compounds.  Among  these,  the  turquoise  is  the 
most  conspicuous  and  important.  In  this  yellowish-white  and 
kaolin-like  tufaceous  rock  the  turquoise  is  found  in  thin  veinlets 
and  little  balls  or  concretions  called  nuggets,  covered  with  a  crust 
of  the  nearly  white  tuff,  which  within  consists  generally,  as  shown 
on  a  cross  fracture,  of  the  less  valued  varieties  of  this  gem,  but 
occasionally  affords  fine  sky-blue  stones  of  higher  value  for  orna- 
mental purposes.  Blue-green  stains  are  seen  in  every  direction 
among  the  decomposed  rocks,  but  the  turquoise  in  mass  is  ex- 
tremely rare,  and  many  tons  of  the  rocks  may  be  broken  without 
finding  a  single  stone  that  a  jeweler  or  collector  would  value  as  a 
gem.  The  waste  or  debris  excavated  in  the  former  workings 
covers  an  area  which  extends  over  twenty  acres  at  least.  On  the 
slopes  and  sides  of  these  great  piles  are  large  cedars  and  pines, 

1  The  Chalchihuitl  of  the  Ancient  Mexicans  :  Its  Locality  and  Association,  and  Its  Identity  with 
Turquoise.     Am.  J.  Sci.  II.,  Vol.  25,  p.  227,  March,  1858. 


56  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

the  age  of  which,  judging  from  their  size  and  the  slowness  of 
growth  in  this  very  dry  region,  must  be  reckoned  by  centuries."1 
It  is  well  known  that  in  1680  a  large  section  of  the  moun- 
tains suddenly  fell  in  from  the  undermining  of  the  mass  by  the 
Indian  miners,  killing  a  number  of  them,  and  that  this  accident 
was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  uprising  of  the  Pueblos,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  expulsion  of  the  Spaniards.  On  both  the  east  and 
west  side  of  the  mountain,  shafts  have  been  sunk,  which  were  in- 
tended to  be  connected  at  their  base  by  a  subterranean  tunnel. 
The  entrance  to  the  main  mining  shafts  on  the  west  side  is  194 
feet  below  the  spot  where  the  Indians  originally  began  their  ex- 
cavations. (See  Illustration.)  Recently  several  caves  have  been 
unearthed  extending  from  the  level  of  the  long-abandoned  mine. 
Some  of  the  most  curious  of  these  openings,  named  the  Won- 
der Caves,  are  about  75  feet  northwest  of  Shaft  No.  i,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  mountain,  and  appear  to  have  been  hermet- 
ically sealed  by  the  Indian  peons  on  abandoning  the  mine ; 
their  discovery  was  purely  accidental.  The  Wonder  Caves  are 
almost  25  feet  from  the  surface  and  run  100  feet  from  the  apex 
of  the  mountain,  being  about  30  by  25  feet  in  width  and  from  6  to 
8  feet  in  height  above  the  debris.  The  group  resembles  in  shape 
the  five  fingers  with  the  hand.  Here  were  found  numerous  veins 
of  turquoise  from  i  inch  to  2  inches  in  thickness,  and  strips  of 
gold-bearing  quartz  cover  the  walls  of  the  central  cave.  The 
bottom  is  composed  of  loose  rock,  almost  20  feet  deep,  which  is 
supposed  to  have  been  thrown  there  by  the  Indians  when  the 
mine  was  sealed.  The  roof  is  supported  by  pillars  from  10  to 
20  feet  thick.  It  is  presumed  that  further  explorations  would 
bring  to  light  openings  through  these  walls,  showing  that  the  en- 
tire mountain  was  honeycombed  by  the  ancients,  and  the  pillars 
left  by  them  to  support  the  roof.  This  information  was  obtained 
in  1880  by  the  efforts  of  the  mining  company  under  J.  B.  Hyde, 
who  supposed  that  the  mine  could  be  worked  for  gold  and  tur- 
quoise ;  but  the  effort,  after  the  expenditure  of  thousands  of  dol- 
lars, proved  unsuccessful.  The  only  work  that  is  carried  on  at 
present  at  the  Los  Cerrillos  Mines  is  done  in  a  very  desultory 
manner  by  either  the  local  lapidaries,  poor  whites,  or  Indians.  It 

1  Eng.  and  Min.  J.,  Vol.  31,  p.  169,  Sept.  10,  1881. 


TURQUOISE   CHARMS,   BEADS   AND   ORNAMENTS 

MADE   BY    NAVAJO    INDIANS 


THE 

USIVSRSITT 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  57 

consists  in  building  large  fires  against  the  base  of  the  rock  which 
becomes  heated,  whereupon  water  is  thrown  over  it.  The  sud- 
den change  of  temperature  cracks  off  large  pieces,  and  much  of 
the  turquoise  is  ruined  in  the  process.  After  cracking  off  the 
rock,  the  turquoise  is  picked  out  of  the  exposed  seams  with  pieces 
of  pointed  iron,  such  as  old  harrow-teeth,  or  any  other  sharp- 
pointed  instrument.  Only  occasionally  is  there  a  blast  put  in. 
The  turquoise  is  sold  in  Santa  Fe,  or  along  the  line  of  the  rail- 
road in  the  vicinity  of  the  mines,  by  the  Indians  of  the  San 
Domingo  pueblo,  N.  M.  The  specimens  are  ground  into  round 
or  heart-shaped  ornaments,  which  are  pierced  with  a  crude  form 
of  bow-drill,  called  by  them  "  malakates."  The  drilling  point  is 
either  quartz  or  agate,  and  the  wheel  to  give  velocity  was  in  one 
instance  made  of  the  bottom  of  a  cup.  The  selling  price  of  the 
ornaments  is  now  very  low,  the  Indians  disposing  of  their  speci- 
mens at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  cents  for  the  contents  of  a  mouth, 
where  they  usually  carry  them.  A  string  made  up  of  many  hun- 
dreds of  stones,  they  value  at  the  price  of  a  pony.  Comparatively 
little  of  the  American  turquoise  finds  sale  except  as  cabinet 
specimens,  or  as  mementos  of  travel.  Still,  for  ornamental  or  in- 
laying work,  were  it  properly  introduced,  it  might  have  a  large 
sale,  as  the  green  and  blue-green  tints  would  contrast  favorably 
with  many  stones  or  with  dark  wood.  It  is  possible  that  deeper 
workings  will  develop  finer  stones,  perhaps  of  such  material  as 
will  maintain  a  more  permanent  color.  Concerning  the  origin  of 
the  turquoise  veiningrock,  both  Prof.  John  S.  Newberry  and  Prof. 
Benjamin  Silliman,  Jr.,  regard  it  as  eruptive.  According  to  Prof. 
Frank  W.  Clarke,  the  very  small  size  of  the  veins  and  their  limited 
distribution  show  that  the  turquoise  is  of  local  origin,  and  he  em- 
phasizes the  idea  that  it  has  resulted  from  the  alteration  of  some 
other  mineral.  In  addition  to  the  facts  tending  to  show  its  deriva- 
tion from  apatite,  there  is  also  the  fact  that  epidote  containing 
lime  is  present  as  a  secondary  product.  The  existence  of  the 
pyrite  in  the  gold-bearing  veins  may  have  had  something  to  do 
with  initiating  the  process  of  alteration,  and  the  alumina  of  the 
turquoise  was  probably  derived  from  decomposing  feldspar.  Dur- 
ing the  summer  of  1885  a  very  full  suite  of  specimens  was  col- 
lected by  Maj.  John  W.  Powell,  and  placed  for  analysis  in  the 


58  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

hands  of  Professor  Clarke,  chief  chemist  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  and  are  now  deposited  in  the  United  States 
National  Museum  Collection. 

This  mineral  varies  in  color  from  a  fine  sky-blue  through 
many  shades  of  bluish-green  and  apple-green  to  dark-green, 
showing  no  blue  whatever.  The  dark-green  nodules  pass  to 
white  at  the  center,  sometimes  resembling  in  structure  certain 
varieties  of  malachite.  Many  of  the  specimens  obtained  by 
Major  Powell,  which  are  seamed  or  streaked  by  limonite, 
Professor  Clarke  suggests  have  been  derived  from  the  accom- 
panying pyrite ;  and  the  latter  mineral  is  occasionally  found, 
bright  and  unaltered,  enclosed  completely  in  masses  of  clear 
blue  turquoise.  Three  samples,  selected  as  representing  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  most  definite  types  of  the  mineral,  may  be 
briefly  described  as,  A.  Bright  blue,  faintly  translucent  in  thin 
splinters.  B.  Pale  blue  with  a  slight  greenish  cast,  opaque  and 
earthy  in  lustre,  and  having  a  specific  gravity  of  2-805.  C.  Dark 
green  in  color  and  opaque.  These  were  analyzed,  with  the  fol- 
lowing results : 

A1  B  c 

Alumina          )  36-88  37-88 

Ferric    Oxide )  "  2-40  4-07 

Phosphorus  Pentoxide..  31-96  32-86  28-63 

Copper  Monoxide 6-30  7-51  6-56 

Lime -13  -38 

Silica 1-15  -16  4-20 

Water 19-80  19-60  18-49 


98-87  9979  99-83 

In  Professor  Silliman's  paper  there  is  reported  3'8i  of 
copper,  which  corresponds  to  478  of  copper  monoxide.  On 
account  of  the  value  of  this  gem,  attempts  have  been  made  to 
color  it  by  artificial  means.  The  discovery  of  this  deception  was 
made  by  the  writer,  who  saw  numerous  parcels  of  turquoise  sent  to 
New  York  from  New  Mexico,  and  among  them  several  small 
lots  with  an  exceptionally  fine  color  for  American  specimens. 
This  color  did  not  appear  to  be  natural,  although  the  stones 

1  Analysis  A  was  not  completed,  as  material  enough  could  not  be  obtained  without  the 
destruction  of  two  valuable  specimens.  The  silica  in  it  was  due  to  traces  of.  admixed  rock  from 
which  the  material  could  not  be  perfectly  freed.  C,  however,  was  free  from  rock,  and  the 
silica  in  it  must  be  otherwise  accounted  for. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  59 

were  found  to  have  the  same  specific  gravity  as  others  from  New 
Mexico,  and  when  tried  with  a  knife  cut  with  the  characteristic 
soapy,  ivory  feel.  It  was  only  after  the  back  had  been  scraped 
off  to  some  depth  that  the  fact  was  revealed  that  they  were 
artificially  stained.  The  coloring  matter  used  was  the  same  as 
that  employed  in  Germany  to  make  the  breccia  agate  that 
resembles  lapis-lazuli,  and  is  often  sold  as  such  to  tourists.  In 
this  case,  however,  the  Prussian  blue  is  only  a  superficial  stain, 
and  the  intensity  of  the  blue  is  modified  by  the  green.  It  can 
readily  be  removed,  without  injury  to  the  stone,  by  scraping  the 
back  with  a  knife.  Prussian  blue  dissolves  readily  in  ammonium 
hydroxide,  so  that  the  simplest  test  is  to  wash  the  stone  in 
alcohol,  and  after  wiping  it,  to  remove  any  grease,  and  lay  it  in 
the  ammonia  solution  for  a  moment,  when  the  blue  color  will 
partially  or  wholly  disappear,  and  the  gem  resume  its  natural 
greenish  hue.  If  it  is  desired  to  examine  the  stone  without 
destroying  the  color,  the  face  should  be  covered  with  wax,  which 
should  be  allowed  to  project  above  the  back,  and  a  little  strong 
ammonium  hydroxide  poured  into  this  groove.  If  artificial,  the 
difference  of  the  shades  of  the  two  sides  will  be  apparent  at  once. 
If  stones  thus  stained  are  worn  in  rings,  their  color  is  soon 
affected  by  the  water  used  in  washing  the  hands.  Ammonia 
does  not  affect  the  color  of  true  Persian  turquoises,  although 
washing  the  hands  with  them  on  usually  does.  By  artificial  light 
the  color  of  this  stained  turquoise  is  rather  gray-blue,  and 
appears  duller  instead  of  lighter,  as  is  the  case  with  the  genuine 
turquoise.  A  stone  costing  $100  to  $200,  if  found  to  be  stained, 
would  depreciate  to  only  a  hundredth  part  of  its  original  cost. 
The  deception  is  to  be  regretted,  since  it  will  cast  suspicion  on 
any  fine  turquoise  that  may  be  found  in  this  country  hereafter ; 
but  the  test  is  so  simple  that  any  one  can  satisfy  himself  as  to 
the  genuineness  of  the  specimen.  A  few  stones  cut  from  New 
Mexico  turquoise,  which  had  at  the  time  of  cutting  a  very  good 
color,  changed  to  the  characteristic  green  within  a  few  days. 
William  P.  Blake1  also  describes  a  second  locality  in  Cochise 
County,  Ariz.,  about  twenty  miles  from  Tombstone  and  not  far 

1  New  Locality  of  the  Green  Turquoise  known  as  Chalchihuitl.     By  William  P.  Blake.     Am. 
J.  Sci.  II.,  Vol.  25,  p.  227,  March,  1858. 


6O  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES    IN  THE 

from  the  stronghold  of  the  Apache  chief,  Cochise.  This  locality, 
likewise  worked  by  the  ancients,  is  now  known  as  Turquoise 
Mountain,  and  as  there  are  several  deposits  of  silver  ores  in 
the  vicinity,  a  mining  district  has  been  formed  known  as  the 
Turquoise  District.  At  the  place  itself,  there  are  two  or  more 
ancient  excavations  upon  the  south  face  of  the  mountain,  and 
large  piles  of  waste  or  debris  thrown  out  are  overgrown  with 
vegetation.  The  place  has  been  worked  only  for  a  short  time, 
and  probably  never  by  the  Apaches.  The  excavations  are  not 
so  extensive  as  those  at  Los  Cerrillos,  and  the  mineral  is  more 
difficult  to  find ;  but,  though  it  is  less  abundant  here,  its  identity 
with  the  New  Mexican  chalchihuitl  has  been  satisfactorily  estab- 
lished. The  rock  is  all  similar,  and  the  turquoise  occurs  in 
seams  and  veinlets  rarely  more  than  -J-  or  ^  inch  in  thickness. 
In  color  it  is  light  apple-green  or  pea-green,  rather  than  blue. 
The  specific  gravity  of  two  different  fragments  gave  2710  and 
2*828,  of  which  the  first  was  slightly  porous  and  earthy  and  the 
second  dense,  hard,  and  homogeneous. 

In  1883  the  author  saw  a  series  of  finely  colored  specimens, 
which  had  been  obtained  at  Mineral  Park,  Ariz.,  and  brought  to 
New  York  city.  They  had  been  taken  from  three  veins,  varying 
in  thickness  from  i  to  4  inches,  about  100  yards  apart,  running 
almost  parallel,  and  traceable  for  nearly  half  a  mile.  This  de- 
posit showed  evidences  of  having  been  mined  by  the  Spaniards, 
and  a  large  number  of  stone  hammers  was  found,  indicating  that 
it  had  also  been  worked  by  the  Indians.  Hoffmann,  in  the  "Min- 
eralogy of  Nevada,"  states  that  turquoise  is  also  found  in  a  local- 
ity situated  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  five  miles  north  of 
Columbus.  This  locality  was  visited  by  J.  E.  Clayton,  who  re- 
ports that,  on  a  sharp  ridge,  about  half  a  mile  southwest  of  the 
Northern  Bell  Mine,  in  the  Columbus  District  of  southern  Ne- 
vada, he  found  turquoise  in  seams  and  bunches  in  a  metamorphic 
sandstone  of  a  brownish  color,  not  vitreous  enough  to  be  classed 
as  a  quartzite.  The  best  specimens  were  in  small,  roundish  peb- 
bles in  clusters,  imbedded  in  the  brown  sandstone,  in  size  from 
that  of  a  duckshot  up  to  a  third  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  Some 
fine  ones  have  been  obtained,  equal  in  color  and  hardness  to  the 
best  standard.  Those  which  occurred  in  seams  were  higher 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  6 1 

colored  and  softer.  The  principal  sale  is  in  San  Francisco, 
where  the  sandstone  is  cut  with  the  turquoise  in  it,  making  a  rich 
mottled  stone  for  jewelry.  Although  the  nodules  are  small,  this 
is  the  finest  turquoise  for  color  and  quality  found  on  the  conti- 
nent. At  Taylor's  Ranch,  Chowchillas  River,  Fresno  County, 
Cal,  several  hexagonal  crystals  of  bluish-green  turquoise  have 
been  found,  each  about  i  inch  in  length.  They  were  identified 
as  turquoise  by  Dr.  Gideon  E.  Moore,  and  are  of  great  interest 
as  to  the  origin  of  turquoise.  The  crystalline  characters  were 
such  that  V.  von  Zepharovich  believed  them  to  be  pseudomorph 
after  crystals  of  apatite.1  (See  Fig.  i.) 

That  the  ancient  Mexicans  held  the  turquoise  in  high  esteem 
is  well  known,  and  that  the  Los  Cerrillos  Mines  were  exten- 
sively worked  prior  to  the  discovery  of  America, 
is  proved  by  fragments  of  Aztec  pottery — vases; 
drinking,  eating,  and  cooking  utensils  ;  stone  ham- 
mers, wedges,  mauls,  and  idols — discovered  in  the 
debris  found  everywhere.  While  Major  Hyde  was 
exploring  this  neighborhood,  in  1880,  he  was  visited 
by  several  Pueblo  Indians  from  San  Domingo,  who 
stated  that  the  turquoise  he  was  taking  from  the  old 

,  •  1  t  1  f  . 

mine  was  sacred,  and  must  not  go  into  the  hands  of 
those  whose  saviour  was  not  Montezuma,  offering,  at  the  same 
time,  to  purchase  all  that  might  come  from  the  mine  in  the 
future.  In  the  Mystery  Cave,  there  was  found  a  stone  hammer 
weighing  13^  pounds,  with  its  handle  attached.  Additional 
evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  the  turquoise  workings  of  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona  has  been  gathered  by  the  Hemenway 
Expedition,  sent  out  by  Mrs.  Hemenway,  under  the  direction 
of  Lieut.  Frank  H.  Cushing.  There  was  found  a  prairie  dog 
cut  out  of  white  marble,  with  turquoises  for  eyes  (see  Illustration)  ; 
also,  about  ten  miles  from  Tempe,  Ariz.,  enclosed  in  asbestos,  in 
a  decorated  Zuni  jar,  a  sea  shell  coated  with  black  pitch,  in  which 
were  incrusted  turquoises  and  garnets  in  the  form  of  a  toad,  the 
sacred  emblem  of  the  Zuni.  (See  Colored  Plate  No.  2.)  The 
Christy  Collection  in  London  contains  two  human  skulls  which 

1  Kallait  pseudomorph  nach  Apatit  aus  California!,  Zeitschrift  fttr  Krystallographie,  Vol.  10, 
p.  240,  1885. 


FIG.  I. 
PSEUDOMORPH      OF 


62  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

are  inlaid  with  turquoise  and  have  eyes  made  of  iron  pyrites  (see 
Illustration),  and  a  finger-ring  made  of  the  central  whorl  of  a 
cone-like  shell  (see  Colored  Plate  No.  2),  in  which  triangular- 
shaped  pieces  of  turquoise  and  red  spondylus  shell  were  inlaid. 
Pieces  of  dark  wood  were  also  inlaid  with  turquoise. 

Bernal  Diaz,  who  came  over  with  Cortez,  mentions  that  on 
the  landing  of  the  explorers  at  San  Juan  de  Ulloa,  the  ambassa- 
dor from  Montezuma  brought  various  rich  presents,  including 
four  chalchihuitls,  each  of  which  the  ambassador  claimed  was 
worth  more  than  a  load  of  gold.  Diaz  states  that  the  chalchi- 
huitls were  green  stones  of  uncommon  value,  and  held  in  higher 
estimation  among  the  Indians  than  the  smaragdus  or  emerald 
was  among  the  Spaniards.  Torquemada,  who  regarded  chal- 
chihuitl  as  a  species  of  emerald,  states  that  the  Mexicans  gave 
the  name  "  Chalchihuitl "  to  Cortez,  intending  thus  to  show 
their  respect  for  him  as  a  captain  of  great  valor,  "  for  chalchi- 
huitl  is  of  the  color  of  the  emerald,  and  emeralds  were  held  in 
great  esteem."  Offerings  of  this  stone  were  made  by  the  Indians 
in  the  temple  of  the  goddess  Matlalcueye,  and  it  was  their 
custom  to  place  a  fragment  in  the  mouths  of  distinguished  chiefs 
when  buried.  Torquemada,  in  recording  this  fact,  says  that 
these  stones  were  emeralds,  but  that  they  were  called  chalchi- 
huitl  by  the  Indians.  When  Alvarada  and  Montezuma  played 
together  at  games  of  chance,  Alvarada  paid,  if  he  lost,  in  chal- 
chihuitl  stones,  but  received  gold  if  he  won. 

The  Indians  claimed  that  the  art  of  cutting  and  polishing 
chalchihuitl  was  taught  them  by  the  god  Quetzalcohvatl.  Ber- 
nardino de  Sahagun  considered  chalchihuitl  to  be  a  jasper  of 
a  very  green  color,  or  a  common  smaragdus.  He  states  that 
they  are  green  and  opaque,  and  are  much  worn  by  the  chiefs 
strung  on  a  thread  around  their  wrists,  being  regarded  as  a 
badge  of  distinction.  (See  Illustration.)  Friar  Marco  de  Nica 
in  1539  made  a  journey  among  the  Indians  of  New  Mexico,  and 
in  his  narrative  frequently  mentions  green  and  bluish  stones, 
which  were  worn  as  ornaments  by  them,  pendant  from  the  ears 
and  nose.  He  also  mentions  seeing  many  "turqueses,"  which 
there  is  little  doubt  he  considered  the  green  stones  to  be.  These 
turquoises  were  worn,  not  only  in  the  ears  and  nose,  but  as  neck- 


SKULL     INCRUSTED    WITH    TURQUOISE    AND    WITH    EYES   OF    IRON    PYRITES 

FROM    THE   CHRISTY   COLLECTION 


WHITE    MARBLE    PRAIRIE   DOG   WITH    EYES   OF   TURQUOISE 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  63 

laces  and  girdles.  They  were  called  Cacona  by  the  Indians,  and 
were  obtained  from  the  kingdom.  On  arriving  at  this  place 
De  Nica  observes  that  "the  people  have  emeralds  and  other 
jewels,  although  they  esteem  none  so  much  as  turquoises,  where- 
with they  adorn  the  walls  of  the  porches  of  their  houses  and 
apparel  and  vessels,  and  they  use  them  instead  of  money  through 
all  the  country."  Coronado,  who  visited  Civola  in  1540,  denies 
De  Nica's  statement  respecting  the  turquoises  upon  the  porches 
of  the  houses,  but  he  obtained  turquoise  ear-rings  and  tablets 
set  with  the  stones.  The  turquoise  has  always  been  the  favorite 
jewel  of  the  western  tribes  of  Indians  and  was  extensively  in  use 
at  the  time  of  the  Conquest  by  Coronado,  in  1541.  Fra  Saverio 
Claverigo,1  alluding  to  the  minor  kingdom  states  tributary  to  the 
main  kingdom,  says :  "  Among  articles  of  tribute  annually 
required  from  these  natives,  mention  is  made  of  ten  small 
measures  of  fine  turquoises  and  one  carga  of  ordinary  tur- 
quoises," and  elsewhere  the  first  present  from  Montezuma  to 
Charles  V.  of  Spain,  through  Cortez,  is  thus  referred  to  :  "  The 
present  of  the  Catholic  king  consisted  of  various  works  of  gold, 
ten  bales  of  most  curious  rolls  of  feathers  and  fair  gems,  so 
highly  valued  by  the  Mexicans  that,  as  Tehuitlile  himself,  the 
ambassador  of  Montezuma  to  Cortez,  affirmed,  each  gem  was 
worth  a  load  of  gold."  According  to  the  Mexican  system 
of  weights,  240  pounds  constituted  a  load  of  gold.  Esti- 
mating gold  at  $20  an  ounce,  the  .value  of  these  gems  was 
over  $57,000.  It  is  a  well  authenticated  fact  that  these  gems 
referred  to  were  turquoises,  and  it  is  believed  that  they 
are  now  among  the  crown  jewels  of  Spain.  In  the  memoir  on 
ancient  turquoise  mosaics,  recently  published  by  Luigi  Pigoni, 
director  of  the  Ethnographic  Museum  in  Rome,9  it  is  stated  that 
the  objects  of  this  kind  known  as  Mexican  are  distributed  as 
follows :  five  in  the  Museum  in  Rome ;  seven  in  the  Christy 
Collection  in  London;  one  in  a  private  collection  in  England; 
two  in  the  Ethnographic  Museum  in  Berlin  ;  and  one  in  Gotha. 
Those  in  the  Christy  Collection  have  been  described  by  E.  B. 

1  History  of  Mexico,  Cesena,  1780-1881. 

s  Gli  Antichi  Oggette    Messicani  Incrostati   di  Mosaico  Isistenti    Nd    Museo    Preistorico- 
Etnografico  di  Roma.   Roma,  1885. 


64 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 


Tylor  in  his  "  Anahuac ;  or,  Mexico  and  the  Mexicans,  Ancient 
and  Modern,"  p.  337;  also  in  the  "British  Museum  Guide  to  the 
Christy  Collection  "  (1868),  p.  20;  and  by  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg 
in  his  "  Recherches  sur  les  ruines  de  Palenque  et  sur  les  origines 
de  la  civilization  du  Mexique  "  with  drawings  by  M.  de  Waldeck 
(Paris,  1866).  The  specimens  in  the  Copenhagen  Museum  have 
been  described  in  "  Congres  International  d'anthropologie  pre- 
historique,  Compte  Rendu  de  la  4me  Session "  (Copenhagen, 
1869),  p.  462,  and  by  Steinhauer  in  "Das  konigliche  Ethno- 
graphische  Museum  zu  Copenhagen"  (1881),  p.  19.  The  three 
in  Berlin  have  been  described  in  a  lecture  before  the  Anthro- 
pological Society  of  Berlin.  Adolph  Bastian  claimed  that  one 
had  originally  been  the  property  of  Alexander  von  Humboldt, 

TURQUOISE 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

Theoretical 
Composition 

LOCALITY 
Los  Cerrillos, 
New  Mexico. 
Analyst, 
F.  W.  Clarke.1 

LOCALITY 
Los  Cerrillos, 
New  Mexico. 
Analyst, 
F.  W.  Clarke.1 

LOCALITY 
Los  Cerrillos, 
New  Mexico. 
Analyst, 
F.  W.  Clarke.1 

LOCALITY 
Taylor's  Ranch, 
Colorado. 
Analyst, 
G.  E.  Moore.* 

Color  

Bright  Blue. 

Pale  Blue. 

Dark  Green. 

Phosphoric  Acid  .  .  . 
Alumina  

32'6o 
4.6"  QO 

«* 

32-86 
•36-88 

28-63 

07-88 

33'*i 

•*c-o8 

Ferric  Oxide  

}  39'53  | 

2'4.O 

A"O7 

J3  y° 

2'QO 

Copper  Oxide  

6*3O 

7'Ci 

6-56 

7-80 

Lime  

O'll 

O"?8 

Silica  

I'l  tj 

0*16 

4-  20 

Water  

2O'CO 

I9'8o 

I  Q-  60 

l8  AQ 

10*08 

Specific  Gravity  .... 

2-805 

2-806 

»,  *,  s  F.  W.  Clarke,  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  32,  p.  211,  Sept.,  1886. 
4  Gideon  E.  Moore,  Zeit.  f iir  Kryst.  u.  Min.  10,  240. 

while  the  other  two  were  from  the  Ducal  Museum  of  Brunswick. 
See  "  Verhandlungen  der  Berliner  Gesellschaft  fur  Anthropol- 
ogie"  (1885),  p.  201.  The  exact  ownership  of  the  one  in 
Gotha  does  not  appear  to  be  known.  Illustrations  of  these 
objects  are  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  E.  B.  Tylor  and  Brasseur 
de  Bourbourg,  and  notices  of  them  appear  in  various  books  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  among  which  are  "  Pyranarcha  sive 
de  fulminum  natura"  by  Liceti  (Padua,  1643),  p.  143,  and 
"  Musseum  Metallicum,"  by  Aldrovandi  (Bologna,  1647),  p.  550; 
"  Museo  Cospiano,"  by  Legati  (Bologna,  1677),  p.  477;  and  in 
Clavigero  "  Storia  antica  del  Messico "  (Vol.  II.,  Book  7, 
Chap.  52).  These  mosaics  are  made  with  pieces  of  broken 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  65 

shells.  The  art  is  still  practised  in  Guatemala.  Pigoni's 
pamphlet  is  specially  devoted  to  a  description  of  the  masks  of 
the  Museum  in  Rome.  Of  these,  three  are  mentioned  in  the 
books  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  first  having  been  the 
property  of  Aldrovandi,  while  the  other  two  are  from  the  Museo 
Cospiano.  The  mask  shown  in  the  plate  of  the  pamphlet  as 
No.  4  is  the  one  mentioned  by  Aldrovandi  in  his  "  Musseum 
Metallicum."  It  is  made  of  wood,  one  side  of  which  is  left 
natural  and  carved  out  so  as  to  fit  the  human  face,  while  parts 
of  the  front  side  are  painted,  and  these  are  incrusted  in  mosaic. 
Among  the  materials  composing  the  incrustations  are  turquoise, 
white,  pearly,  red,  and  black  sea  shells,  also  small  garnets,  with 
several  minute  square  pieces  of  metal.  This  mask  was  in  the 
Archaeological  Museum  of  Bologna  until  1878,  and  its  history  is 
well  known,  as  it  originally  belonged  to  the  Aldrovandi  Collec- 
tion. The  mask  designated  on  the  plate  as  No.  5  is  well  pre- 
served, and  was  acquired  in  1880  from  Florence.  The  mosaic 
is  formed  of  red  shell  and  turquoise.  In  the  ethnographic 
collection  of  the  College  of  the  Propaganda  in  Rome,  there 
are  also  two  masks,  differing  from  the  others  in  not  being  in- 
crusted  with  mosaic,  but  tinted  red,  and  engraved  with  lines  that 
are  filled  in  with  white  material.  These  have  been  described 
and  illustrated  by  Dr.  Guiseppe  A.  Colini  in  the  "  Bulletino 
della  Societa  geografica  Italiana,"  Vol.  19,  p.  324,  325. 


iv-  - 


CHAPTER     IV. 


Topaz  and  Tourmaline  (Rubellite,  Indicolite,  and  Achroite). 


"^OPAZ  crystallizes  in  the  orthorhombic  system,  and  oc- 
curs in  prisms  with  one  end  regularly  terminated,  and 
has  a  very  perfect  cleavage  transverse  to  the  prism. 
Its  hardness  is  8,  and  specific  gravity  3*53.  It  is  a 
silicate  of  alumina  containing  fluorine.  A  blue  crystal  weighing 
20  pounds  is  in  the  Imperial  Mining  School  at  St.  Petersburg, 
Russia.  Fine  blue  and  sherry  colored  crystals  have  been  found 
in  Siberia,  blue  ones  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  yellow  in  Minas 
Geraes,  Brazil  ;  white  in  Villa  Rica,  Brazil ;  and  blue  and  white 
in  Ceylon  and  Australia.  Brazilian  or  true  mineralogical  topaz 
is  often  confounded  with  two  other  minerals,  namely,  citrine  and 
Spanish  or  Saxon  topaz,  the  color  of  which  is  made  by  heating 
and  so  decolorizing  smoky  quartz  to  various  shades  of  yellow  or 
brown.  Yellow  sapphire  is  called  Oriental  topaz.  The  specific 
gravities  of  the  three  varieties  are  given  for  comparison. 


SPECIFIC  GRAVITY. 

Oriental  Topaz 4-01 

True  or  Brazilian  Topaz 3-55 

False  or  Saxon  Topaz 2-65 


HARDNESS. 

9 


COMPOSITION. 

Alumina. 

Fluo  silicate 

of  Alumina. 

Silica. 


True  yellow  topaz,  if  heated  for  a  time,  becomes  pink,  and 
continued  heating  renders  it  colorless. 


66 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES  67 

The  gem  topaz  has  been  found  in  Huntington  and  Middle- 
town,  Conn. ;  Stoneham,  Me. ;  North  Chatham,  N.  H. ;  Sevier 
Lake,  Utah;  at  Nathrop,  Chalk  Mountain,  Crystal  Park,  Floris- 
sant and  Devil's  Head  Mountain,  Col. ;  and  at  Ruby  Mountain, 
Nev.  The  first  discovery  of  topaz  in  the  United  States  was  that 
of  Trumbull,  Conn.  Specimens  of  it,  found  there  in  a  vein  of 
fluorite,  associated  with  a  chlorophane  variety  of  fluorite,  were 
sent  to  Prof.  Benjamin  Silliman,  who  determined  it  to  be  topaz. 
Six  different  determinations  of  its  specific  gravity  gave  results 
varying  from  3*42  to  3*47,  with  a  mean  of  3*45.  In  their  modi- 
fication and  color,  the  crystals  afforded  by  this  locality  very  strik- 
ingly resemble  those  from  Saxony,  but  are  generally  of  larger 
dimensions,  and  scarcely  any  of  them  would  afford  a  gem,  since 
they  are  nearly  all  opaque.  This  same  authority,  in  1838,  in  a 
"  Notice  of  a  Second  Locality  of  Topaz  in  Connecticut,"  says;1 
"  Among  specimens  which  I  obtained  at  China  Stone  Quarry,  in 
Middletown,  two  years  ago,  I  find  one  that  contains  above  fifty 
crystals  of  topaz.  They  measure  from  |  to  ^  of  an  inch  in  length, 
are  very  slender  and  perfectly  transparent,  being  attached  by  a 
lateral  plane  to  crystals  of  albite."  Probably  the  most  beautiful  and 
brilliant  crystals  of  topaz  known  in  the  United  States  are  those 
found  forty  miles  north  of  Sevier  Lake,  Utah,  and  the  same 
distance  north  of  the  town  of  Deseret  on  the  Sevier  River.  This 
locality,  known  as  Thomas  Mountain,  is  an  isolated  and  arid 
elevation  about  six  miles  long,  and  is  described  by  Henry  Engel- 
man,  geologist  of  the  expedition  that,  under  Capt.  James  Simp- 
son, crossed  Utah  in  1859.  He  found  crystals  loose  on  the  sur- 
face. James  E.  Clayton,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  visited  the  place  in 
June,  1 884,  and  obtained  a  large  number  of  beautiful  crystals,  larger 
than  those  from  Nathrop,  Col.,  and  equally  as  brilliant  as  those 
from  San  Luis  Potosi,  Mexico,  which  they  closely  resemble.  Mr. 
Clayton  states  that  still  larger  crystals  are  found,  and  he  says : 
"  They  are  evidently  not  secondary  products,  like  zeolites,  but 
primary,  and  produced  by  sublimation  or  crystallization  from 
presumably  heated  solutions,  contemporaneous,  or  nearly  so,  with 
the  final  consolidation  of  the  rocks."5  Prof.  J.  Alden  Smith  refers 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  L,  Vol.  34,  p.  329,  Oct.,  1838. 
s  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  31,  p.  432,  June,  1886. 


68 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 


to  beautiful  topazes  occurring  in  the  lithophyses  of  rhyolite,  which 
is  the  first  noted  occurrence  of  this  gem  in  an  eruptive  rock.1 
This  rock  was,  however,  first  identified  by  Whitman  Cross,  and 
its  exact  locality  is  directly  opposite  Nathrop,  Col.,  on  a  ridge  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  in  length  and  about  200  feet  in  height.  Here 
the  topaz  is  found  in  more  or  less  rounded  cavities,  partially  filled 
by  its  curved  walls,  which  by  concentric  arrangement  and  an  over- 
lapping often  produce  a  roselike  form.  These  cavities  are  often 
lined  with  minute,  glassy  quartz  crystals,  and  on  them  are  found 
the  topazes,  which  are  prismatic  in  form,  and,  being  attached  to 


TOPAZ 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

LOCALITY 
Stoneham,  Oxford  Co., 
Main*. 
Analyst, 
Chatard.1 

LOCALITY 
Stoneham,  Oxford  Co., 
Maine. 
Analyst, 
F.  A.  Genth.' 

LOCALITY 
Stoneham,  Oxford  Co., 
Maine. 
Analyst, 
C.  M.  Bradbury.3 

LOCALITY 
Florissant, 
Colorado. 
Analyst, 
W.  F.  Hillebrand.* 

LOCALITY 

Connecticut. 
Analyst, 
Rammelsberg.  5 

LOCALITY 
Huntington, 
Connecticut. 
Analyst, 
Silliman  &  Hitchcock.6 

Silica  

31-92 

57-38 
16-99 
0-15 

I'33 
0'20 

32-03 
57-18 
18-83 

21-37 
51-26 
29*21 

33'15 
57-01 
16-04 

32-38 
55-32 
16-12 

29-74 
47-46 
I2-O2 

Alumina  

Potassa  

Soda  

Water  

Color  

Yellow. 

Hardness  

8-00 
JSi 

Specific  Gravity  

3-514 

3'45 

1  F.  W.  Clarke,  U.  S.  Geol.  Sur.  Bull.  No.  27. 
a  F.    A.     Genth,    Proc.    Am.     Phil.    Soc.,    Oct. 

1885. 
z  C.  M.  Bradbury,  Chem.  News,  Sept.  7,  1883. 


*  W.  F.  Hillebrand,   and  Whitman  Cross,  U.  S.  GeoL 

Sur.  Bull.  No.  20. 

*  Rammelsberg,  J.  fur  pr.  Ch.  96,  7. 

0  Silliman  and  Hitchcock,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (i)  n,  112. 


the  sides  of  the  cavities  in  all  positions,  are  often  found  doubly 
terminated.  The  crystals  are  from  £  to  (rarely)  i  inch  in  length 
and  i  to  i  inch  across  the  prism.  In  color  they  are  generally 
transparent  and  flawless,  and  are  either  colorless,  pale-blue, 
or  distinctly  sherry-colored.  A  similar  occurrence  is  noted  by 
Mr.  Cross,  in  the  nevadite  of  Chalk  Mountain,  but  the  crystals 
are  somewhat  smaller.  Chalk  Mountain  is  situated  at  the  junc- 
ture of  Lake  Eagle  and  Summit  Counties  in  Colorado.*  Many 
fine  large  topaz  crystals  have  been  found  at  Crystal  Park,  near 
Pike's  Peak,  El  Paso  County,  Col.  Three  crystals  from  this  lo- 

1  Report  on  the  Development  of  the  Resources  of  Colorado,  p.  36,  1881-1882. 
»  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  27,  p.  94,  Feb.,  1884. 


CRYSTAL    OF   TOPAZ 

FROM    STONEHAM,    ME. 


MAMMOTH    BERYL 

FROM   GRAFTON,    N.    H. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  69 

cality,  all  of  which  are  remarkable  for  their  size  and  clearness, 
were  very  fully  described  by  Whitman  Cross  and  William  F. 
Hillebrand,  under  title  of  "Minerals  from  the  Neighborhood 
of  Pike's  Peak,  Col."1  One  of  these,  a  fragment  of  a  crystal, 
was  found  near  Florissant  with  amazon-stone ;  it  is  remarkable  on 
account  of  the  probable  size  of  the  original  crystal,  which  when 
complete  must  have  been  nearly  a  foot  in  diameter.  It  was  clear 
in  parts  and  had  a  decided  greenish  tinge.  The  specific  gravity 
of  a  fragment  was  3*578  and  its  chemical  composition  was  entirely 
normal.  Another  locality  of  importance  in  the  vicinity  is  Devil's 
Head  Mountain  in  the  Colorado  range,  some  thirty  miles  north 
of  Pike's  Peak.  The  pocket  in  which  the  topaz  was  found  at  this 
place  is  of  irregular  shape,  being  about  50  feet  long,  from  2  to  1 5 
feet  wide,  and  averaging  4  feet  in  depth.  Owing  to  the  dis- 
integration of  the  rock  at  the  surface,  many  of  the  crystals  had 
been  carried  in  the  debris  to  a  considerable  distance  down  the 
mountain  side,  and  were  badly  worn  and  broken.  The  topaz  is 
found  here  in  isolated  and  usually  loose  crystals,  surrounded  by 
distorted  quartz  crystals  of  smoky  reddish  shades,  frequently  the 
exact  color  of  the  topaz.  The  principal  color  of  the  latter  was 
reddish,  although  wine-yellow,  milky-blue,  and  colorless  crystals 
were  found.9  These  Colorado  localities  have  proved  quite  valu- 
able. Within  a  year  after  their  discovery  it  was  estimated 
that  over  100  crystals  had  been  sold  for  nearly  $1,000,  at  prices 
varying  from  50  cents  to  $100  each."  A  topaz  crystal  weigh- 
ing i8|  ounces  (587  grams)  was  found  at  Cheyenne  Mountain)!, 
Col.,  during  1886;  but,  although  very  perfect,  it  had  little  gem 
value.  There  is  in  the  United  States  National  Museum  in 
Washington  a  cinnamon-tinted  cut  stone  from  Pike's  Peak  weigh- 
ing 1 5  carats,  that  is  superior  in  beauty  to  the  brilliant  white 
topazes  from  Brazil.  Several  of  the  sherry-colored  Colorado 
crystals  have  been  cut  in  stones,  two  of  the  larger  ones  weighing 
125  to  193  carats  each.  (See  Colored  Plate  No.  3.)  During  1882, 
crystals  from  Harndon  Hill,  in  the  vicinity  of  Stoneham,  Me., 
were  determined  by  the  writer  to  be  topazes,  and  further  research 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  24,  p.  282. 

2  Contributions  to  the  Mineralogy  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  p.  70,  et  seq.,  Bulletin  No.  20  of 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  Washington,  1885. 

3  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1886,  p.  596. 


7O  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

resulted  in  the  finding  of  large  quantities  of  fragments.  This 
locality  furnished  good,  clear,  and  distinct  crystals  of  topaz  and 
has  yielded  the  best  crystals  found  in  the  East.  The  specimens 
are  either  colorless  or  faintly  tinted  with  green  or  blue.  The 
finest  crystals  were  from  f  inch  to  2-J-  inches  (10  to  65  millimeters) 
across,  perfect,  and  in  part  transparent.  Several  perfect  gems 
have  been  cut  from  some  of  the  fragments.  They  had  the 
characteristic  fluid  cavities,  and  in  hardness  were  the  same  as 
the  Brazilian.1  Some  white  opaque  crystals,  a  foot  in  diameter, 
were  blasted  out  by  the  writer.  The  finest  crystal  found  at  this 
locality  is  in  the  cabinet  of  Clarence  S.  Bement.  (See  illustration.) 
During  1888  nearly  100  crystals  associated  with  phenacite  were 
found  on  Bald  Mountain,  North  Chatham,  N.  H.,  which  is 
only  a  few  miles  from  the  Stoneham  locality,  both  places  being 
near  the  State  line.2  They  were  colorless,  light-green,  or  cherry- 
colored  on  the  outer  sides  and  colorless  in  the  center.  The  largest 
crystal  measured  i|-  inches  in  height  and  the  same  in  thickness. 
Almost  all  the  crystals  contained  irregular  hollow  spaces  from  T§ ^ 
to  T3^  inch  (i  to  10  millimeters)  across.  In  habit  the  crystals  close- 
ly resemble  those  from  Cheyenne  Mountain,  Col.  Some  of  these 
crystals  are  equal  in  point  of  quality  to  any  found  in  Colorado, 
although  they  are  not  as  large.  At  Stoneham,  Me.,  green  and 
red  damourite,  altered  from  topaz,  has  been  cut  into  different  odd 
forms  and  charms  by  the  local  collectors.3 

TOURMALINE 

belongs  to  the  rhombohedral  system,  and  occurs  in  prisms, 
the  sides  of  which  are  generally  striated  and  channeled.  The 
hardness  of  the  transparent  variety  is  7*5,  and  its  specific  gravity 
ranges  from  3*0  to  3*25.  Its  composition  is  very  complex,  as  is 
shown  in  the  table  of  analysis. 

The  question  of  color  is  an  interesting  one,  particularly 
when  the  varying  colors  of  the  lithia  tourmaline  are  concerned. 
The  color  of  the  iron  and  magnesian  varieties  depends  on  the 
amount  of  iron  present,  and  passes  from  the  colorless  specimens 

1  See  Topaz  and  Associated  Minerals  from  Stoneham,  Oxford  County,  Me.     Am.  J.  Sci.  III., 
Vol.  25,  p.  161,  Feb.,  1883  ;  and  Vol.  27,  p.  212,  March,  1884. 
s  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  36,  p.  222,  Sept.,  1888. 
3  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  29,  p.  278,  May,  1885. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  71 

from  DeKalb  through  all  the  shades  of  brown  to  the  black 
variety  found  in  Pierrepont.  On  the  other  hand,  the  lithia 
tourmaline,  containing  more  or  less  manganese,  gives  us  the  red, 
green,  blue,  and  colorless  varieties.  The  shades  of  color  do  not 
appear  to  depend  on  the  absolute  amount  of  manganese  present, 
but  rather  on  the  ratios  existing  between  that  element  and  iron. 
When  the  ratio  of  manganese  is  to  iron  as  one  is  to  one,  there  is 
produced  the  colorless,  pink,  or  very  pale  green  tourmaline.  An 
excess  of  manganese  produces  the  red  varieties,  while  if  the  iron 
be  in  excess,  the  result  is  various  shades  of  green  and  blue.  The 
finest  green  and  red  specimens  are  found  in  the  province  of 
Minas  Geraes,  Brazil,  the  deep  red  rubellite  in  Siberia,  the 
yellow  and  brown  in  Ceylon,  and  Carinthia,  Austria,  and  pink  on 
the  island  of  Elba.  The  hardness  of  the  flawless  variety  is  about 
7*5,  and  the  specific  gravity  varies  from  3*0  to  3*25.  It  is  very 
electric.  The  colorless  variety  is  called  achroite,  the  red,  rubel- 
lite, the  blue,  indicolite,  the  green,  Brazilian  emerald,  and  the 
black,  schorl. 

Tourmaline  is  one  of  the  most  dichroitic  of  all  gems.  When 
a  crystal  is  viewed  through  the  side,  it  is  transparent  green,  but 
when  viewed  through  the  end  of  the  prism,  it  is  either  opaque  or 
yellow-green.  For  instance,  in  tourmaline  from  Paris,  Me.,  if 
two  gems  are  taken  from  a  green  crystal,  one  with  the  top  cut 
from  the  side  of  the  prism  and  the  other  from  the  pyramid  side, 
one  will  be  bright  green  and  the  other  yellow-green.  It  has 
frequently  happened  with  specimens  from  Brazil  that  one  would 
be  green  and  the  other  opaque.  Specimens  that  rival  any  found 
in  the  world  have  been  obtained  in  Maine.  The  localities  that 
have  furnished  fine  ones  are  Mount  Mica,  near  Paris,  Auburn, 
Hebron,  Norway,  Mount  Black,  in  Andover,  Rumford,  and  Stan- 
dish.  In  the  two  latter  places,  however,  they  do  not  count  as  gems. 
The  famous  tourmaline  locality  at  Paris,  Me.,  is  situated  on  Mount 
Mica,  a  spur  of  Streaked  Mountain,  about  one  mile  east  of  Paris 
Court  House.  It  was  discovered  in  1820  by  Elijah  L.  Hamlin 
and  Ezekiel  Holmes,  while  they  were  on  a  mineralogical  and 
geological  trip.  Mr.  Hamlin  found  a  fragment  of  a  transparent 
crystal  lying  loose  upon  some  earth  which  still  clung  to  the  foot 
of  a  fallen  tree,  and  procured  about  thirty  beautiful  crystals. 


72  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

These  were  entrusted  to  Governor  Lincoln  of  Maine  to  take 
to  New  Haven,  and  all  but  one  were,  at  this  time,  lost.  It  is 
believed  that  these  tourmalines  are  at  present  in  the  Imperial 
Mineralogical  Cabinet  at  Vienna,  since  there  were  some  fine 
specimens  of  tourmalines  purchased  with  the  collection  of  the 
well-known  antiquarian,  Vandervull,  in  1830.  These  were  recog- 
nized as  being  from  Paris,  Me.,  by  Baron  Lederer,  the  Austrian 
Consul  in  New  York  City,  who  was  familiar  with  the  crystals, 
having  made  collections  in  that  locality.  In  1825,  Prof.  Charles 
U.  Shepard  visited  the  locality,  and  after  considerable  work 
obtained  some  of  the  best  crystals  ever  found,  which  are  now  in 
the  Shepard  Collection  at  Amherst  College,  having  escaped  the 
disastrous  fire  of  1882.  Prof.  John  W.  Webster,  of  Harvard 
College,  found  a  large  red  crystal  and  some  beautiful  grass-green 
ones.  In  1865  the  locality  was  supposed  to  be  exhausted,  but 
excavations  which  have  been  made  there  since,  from  time  to 
time,  through  the  perseverance  of  Dr.  Augustus  C.  Hamlin,  have 
brought  to  light  many  fine  crystals.  In  1881  the  Mount  Mica 
Tin  and  Mica  Company  began  operations,  with  Doctor  Hamlin 
as  president,  and  work  has  been  carried  on  at  intervals  since. 
Some  hundreds  of  tourmalines  are  the  result  of  this  mining, 
among  them  a  blue  indicolite  crystal  9  inches  long,  somewhat 
shattered  by  blasting.  (See  Colored  Plate  No.  4.)  It  is  light- 
blue  at  one  end,  shading  gradually  into  dark-blue  and  deep  blue- 
black.  This  would  have  been  the  finest  crystal  known,  and 
would  have  furnished  several  hundred  carats  of  fine  stones,  had 
it  not  been  so  broken.  It  is  now  in  the  State  Museum  at 
Albany,  N.  Y.  The  next  summer's  work  brought  to  light 
material  that  cut  into  two  of  the  finest  gems,  of  a  grass-green 
hue,  weighing  about  30  carats,  which  surpass  in  beauty  anything 
hitherto  found.  (See  Colored  Plate  No.  4.)  The  gems  and 
crystals  obtained  by  this  company  have  been  valued  at  over 
$5,000,  and  the  value  of  all  that  have  been  taken  from  this 
locality,  and  sold  at  the  highest  rate  asked  for  them  as  native 
gems,  probably  amounts  to  $50,000.  The  crystals  of  green 
tourmaline,  inclosing  red  crystals  of  rubellite,  found  at  Mount 
Mica,  when  properly  cut  across  the  prism  form  objects  of 
great  beauty.  The  centers  have  often  furnished  magnificent 


PLATE  No.  4 


Copyright  1890,l>y  the  Scientific  Pub.  Co  N  Y 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  73 

transparent  gems,  scarcely  distinguishable  by  the  eye  from  the 
true  ruby.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  wonderful  mineral 
than  that  composing  these  crystals  from  Paris,  which  are  white  at 
the  termination,  then  almost  emerald-green,  light  green,  pink, 
then  colorless  as  water,  and  when  broken  are  dark  blue  or  red 
in  the  center,  this  center  in  turn  being  coated  white,  pink,  and 
green. 

The  green  tourmaline,  which  has  been  called  Brazilian 
emerald,  is  used  by  the  Brazilian  clergy  as  their  emblem.  Fine 
tourmalines  have  a  greater  brilliancy  than  the  emerald  when 
seen  by  artificial  light,  but  have  not  the  rich  deep  light  of  the 
latten  Some  of  the  finest  cut  rubellites  and  green  tourmalines 
are  in  the  possession  of  members  of  the  family  of  Professor 
Shepard.  One  of  the  finest  known,  which  is  i  inch  long,  f 
inch  broad,  and  i  inch  thick,  was  described  by  Professor 
Shepard  as  of  a  chrysolite  green,  with  a  blue  tinge,  but  less 
yellow  and  more  green  than  chrysolite.  This,  on  comparison, 
he  found  to  be  finer  than  any  of  the  gems  in  the  Hope  Collec- 
tion, that  was  sold  at  auction  in  1881.  It  now  belongs  to  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  James,  wife  of  Judge  James,  of  Washington.  (See 
Plate  No.  4.)  One  fine  achroite  two-thirds  this  size,  and  one 
remarkable  rubellite,  the  size  of  the  largest  tourmaline,  are  in 
the  possession  of  L.  E.  DeForest  of  New  Haven,  Conn.  (See 
Colored  Plate  No.  4.)  The  Hamlin  cabinet,1  the  first  crystal 
of  which  was  found  in  1820,  contains  many  fine  rubellites  (red 
tourmalines),  indicolites  (blue  tourmalines),  and  achroites  (white 
tourmalines),  as  well  as  good  examples  of  pink,  yellow,  green, 
and  other  colors,  all  from  Paris,  Me.  This  is  the  best  tourmaline 
collection  in  the  world,  and  would  furnish  full  suites  for  a 
dozen  cabinets.  The  crystals  used  by  Dr.  Hamlin  to  illustrate 
his  treatise  on  the  tourmaline  are  in  this  cabinet,  as  well  as  many 
other  fine  stones  of  nearly  every  known  shade  of  the  gem,  in- 
cluding a  wonderful  dark  gem  of  28  carats  (see  Colored  Plate 
No.  4),  i  inch  in  diameter,  and  an  achroite  of  23  carats.  One,  the 
finest  tourmaline  of  this  collection,  is  shown  as  it  now  is.  (See 
Colored  Plate  No.  4.)  In  the  Peabody  Museum  at  New  Haven 
are  some  crystals  collected  by  Dr.  Sanborn  Tenney,  of  Williams 

1  See  The  Tourmaline,  by  Dr.  Augustus  C.  Hamlin,  Boston,  1873. 


74  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

College.  A  light-green  crystal,  about  2  inches  long,  has  at 
one  end  a  transparent,  kernel-like  nodule  that  would  afford  a 
gem  of  over  10  carats'  weight.  The  center  of  a  section  of  green 
and  red  tourmaline  would  cut  one  of  the  finest  magenta-colored 
rubellites  ever  seen.  The  next  important  tourmaline  locality  in 
Maine  is  Mount  Apatite,  in  Auburn,  Androscoggin  County. 
It  was  first  worked  in  1882,  and  since  then  fully  1,500  crystals 
have  been  found.  They  were  colorless,  light-pink,  light-blue, 
bluish-pink,  and  light-golden,  the  sections  showing  the  character- 
istic variety  of  color,  such  as  blue  and  pink,  green  and  pink, 
etc.,  when  viewed  through  the  end  of  the  crystal.  Some  of 
the  faintly-colored  crystals  afforded  gems  that  were  considerably 
darker  after  the  cutting,  but  no  gems  over  6  or  8  carats  were 
obtained  here.  Further  working  in  1883  or  1884  brought 
darker  material  to  light,  especially  the  green  colors,  some  of 
which  equal  those  found  at  Mount  Mica.  Rude  black  crystals 
8  inches  in  diameter  and  1 2  feet  long  (at  times  enclosing  quartz- 
ite)  were  observed  here.  This,  like  the  Mount  Mica  locality, 
gives  promise  of  fine  gems  for  some  time  to  come.  The  collec- 
tion in  the  United  States  National  Museum  contains  a  i-carat 
blue  indicolite,  two  lavender-colored  stones  of  i  carat  each,  a 
light  emerald-green  stone  of  f  carat,  as  handsome  as  an  emerald 
viewed  by  artificial  light,  and  also  a  suite  of  several  dozen  loose 
crystals  of  various  colors.  The  tourmaline  locality  of  Rumford 
is  situated  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town,  in  Oxford  County, 
Me.,  on  the  northwest  slope  of  Mount  Black,  and  is  about  1,500  feet 
above  sea-level.  The  vein,  which  has  been  Covered  for  a  length 
of  about  250  feet,  has  been  found  to  be  quite  irregular,  varying 
from  30  to  loo  feet  in  width,  and  dips  northeast  and  southwest 
at  an  angle  of  about  60°.  The  rock  is  a  coarse  granite  with  mica 
schist  overlying.  The  Mount  Mica  Company  did  some  work 
here,  and  since  they  stopped  E.  M.  Bailey  has  worked  the 
solid  ledge  to  a  depth  of  from  3  to  10  feet.  No  gems  have  been 
found,  though  some  interesting  mineralogical  specimens  have 
been  secured,  among  them  specimens  of  lepidolite,  which  is 
found  here  of  finer  grain  than  that  from  any  other  Maine  locality. 
One  form  is  in  scales  not  over  Tfir  inch  (i  millimeter)  across, 
quite  compact,  and  in  large  masses  of  a  beautiful  lilac  color,  closely 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  75 

resembling  the  mineral  from  Altenberg,  Saxony.  A  character- 
istic form  is  of  a  light  lavender  color,  very  compact,  so  that  it 
could  be  used  for  ornamental  purposes,  and  in  this  the  scales  are 
not  more  than  -rf^  to  i  inch  (i  to  25  millimeters)  in  width. 
The  mass  is  penetrated  in  every  direction  by  crystals  or  rubel- 
lites,  which  are  of  the  light  or  dark  shade  of  red.  This  associa- 
tion is  similar  to  that  from  Rozena  in  Moravia. 

Rubellite,  indicolite,  and  the  green  tourmalines  are  the 
common  varieties  at  this  locality.  All  exhibit  a  tendency  to 
radiate,  assuming  this  form  when  they  occur  side  by  side  in  one 
radiation.  Crystals  of  green,  red,  and  blue  tourmaline  have 
been  found  at  Standish,  which,  although  very  good  as  crystals, 
are  not  of  gem  quality.  Little  work  has  been  done  in  this 
locality,  which  may  improve  by  development.  The  specimens  at 
Bates  College,  Lewiston,  Me.,  labelled  "  Baldwin,"  are  supposed 
to  have  been  found  here.  Bluish  and  brownish-green  tourmaline 
is  found  in  fine  crystals,  penetrating  damourite  and  diaspore,  in 
Newlin  Township,  but  none  of  them  transparent  enough  for  gem 
purposes.  A  small,  well-terminated,  transparent  green  tourmaline 
was  found  by  J.  C.  Mills,  on  Silver  Creek,  Burke  County,  N.  C., 
also  a  black  crystal  4  inches  long,  inclosed  in  a  green  beryl 
crystal.  William  Irelan,  Jr.,  State  Mineralogist,  reports  that  fine 
crystals  of  translucent  rubellite,  but  not  of  gem  value,  are  found 
in  California.  Fine  crystals  of  indicolite  and  green  tourmaline 
are  found  with  the  cleavelandite  feldspar  at  Chesterfield,  Mass., 
but  none  transparent  enough  to  furnish  gems.  They  are  inter- 
esting from  the  fact  that  the  green  crystals  often  inclose  crystals 
of  rubellite,  and  sometimes  both  red  and  white  tourmaline. 
These  afford  very  interesting  specimens  when  cut  in  sections 
across  the  prism.  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.,  has  given  to 
mineral  cabinets  the  greatest  number  and  the  finest  examples  of 
doubly  terminated  crystals  of  black  and  brown  tourmaline,  both 
kinds  occurring  in  a  granular  limestone,  from  which  they  can 
readily  be  broken  out,  or  the  limestone  removed  by  acid.  The 
result  is  that  many  thousands  of  specimens  from  Pierrepont,  of 
the  most  highly  polished  black,  doubly  terminated  crystals, 
although  without  value  as  gems,  grace  the  mineral  cabinets  of  the 
world.  Nor  have  the  products  of  any  locality  ever  excelled  in 


76 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 


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UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  77 

beauty  or  size  the  wonderful  crystals  of  brown  tourmaline  from 
Gouverneur,  N.  Y.  Many  thousands  of  perfect  crystals,  measur- 
ing from  i  inch  to  6  inches  in  length,  doubly  terminated,  rich  in 
modifications,  but  rarely  affording  a  gem  over  i  carat,  have  been 
taken  from  this  locality.  One  of  the  finest  is  in  the  Root 
Collection,  at  Hamilton  College ;  many  fine  ones  are  in  the 
Peabody  Museum,  New  Haven,  Conn.  ;  but  the  best  series  of 
both  varieties  is  in  the  cabinet  of  Clarence  S.  Bement,  in 
Philadelphia.  At  Richville,  near  De  Kalb,  N.  Y.,  achroites 
(white  tourmalines)  have  been  found  in  fine  crystals.  The 
choicest  of  these,  in  the  cabinet  of  Mr.  Bement,  is  over  i  inch 
in  length,  and  would  cut  into  a  gem  weighing  over  10  carats. 
Crystals  of  brown  tourmaline  were  obtained  by  Charles  E.  Beecher, 
at  Newcomb,  Essex  County,  N.  Y.  Portions  of  these  crystals 
were  very  free  from  flaws,  and  material  enough  was  found 
to  cut  hundreds  of  gems  weighing  from  i  to  10  carats.  In 
the  eupyrchroite  locality,  near  Crawford,  N.  Y.,  William 
P.  Blake  obtained  beautiful  transparent  brown  and  light-brown 
tourmaline  in  crystals  large  enough  to  cut  gems  of  several 
carats'  weight.  A  large  number  of  green  tourmalines,  some 
quite  thick  and  several  inches  in  length,  have  been  obtained 
at  Franklin  Furnace,  Essex  County,  N.  J.,  but,  although  they 
are  an  important  addition  to  our  mineralogical  collections,  and 
the  outer  parts  of  some  of  the  crystals  are  of  a  rich,  almost 
chrome  green,  not  a  single  crystal  has  been  found  that  would 
cut  a  transparent  gem  of  even  i  carat.  Professor  Genth  men- 
tions beautiful  light-yellow,  brownish-yellow,  and  at  times  white 
crystals  of  tourmaline,  at  Bailey's  limestone  quarry,  East  Marl- 
borough,  Pa.  ;  yellow  crystals  at  Logan's  limestone  quarry, 
West  Marlborough  ;  brown  and  light-yellow,  which  are  at  times 
transparent,  at  John  Niven's  limestone  quarry,  New  Garden 
Township ;  and  green  tourmaline  in  talc  near  Rock  Spring, 
Centre  County.  Specimens  of  black  tourmaline  as  fine  as  are 
ever  obtained,  are  found  near  Leiperville,  Delaware  County,  in 
well  terminated  crystals,  5  inches  in  length  and  i£  inches  thick  ; 
also  at  Marple  Township,  terminated  with  two  low  rhombohedra. 


CHAPTER    V. 


Garnet  Group — Essonite,  Sp^ssartite,  Almandite,  Pyrope,  Ouvarovite,  Schorlomite. 


THE  garnet  represents  a  group  of  minerals  which,  al- 
though chemically  quite  different,  crystallize  in  the 
isometric  system.  The  following  are  the  varieties  that 
have  been  used  as  gems. 

Essonite,  which  has  been  confused  with  zircon,  the  only 
true  hyacinth,  is  still  called  hyacinth  by  the  jeweler.  It  has  a 
hardness  of  7  and  its  specific  gravity  is  3*68.  Grossularite  is  the 
pale-green  or  yellowish  variety  of  essonite. 

Almandine  garnets  vary  in  color  from  violet  or  purple  through 
brownish-red  to  deep  red.  The  scarlet  and  the  crimson  varieties, 
when  cut  en  cabochon,  are  called  carbuncles.  The  finest  alman- 
dines  are  from  Siriam,  India.  Their  hardness  is  7*5  and  specific 
gravity,  4-1  to  4-3. 

Pyrope,  or  blood-red  garnet,  is  commonly  known  from  its 
use  in  cheap  Bohemian  jewelry  and  is  found  extensively  at  a 
number  of  places  in  Bohemia,  and  also  of  fine  quality  at  the 
Kimberley  Mines  in  South  Africa.  Its  hardness  is  7*5  and  its 
specific  gravity  37  to  3*8. 

Ouvarovite  is  of  a  brilliant  emerald-green  color  and  is  found 
at  Bissersk,  in  Siberia,  but  is  rarely  large  enough  to  furnish 
gem  stones.  Its  hardness  is  nearly  8  and  specific  gravity  3*45. 

Demantoid  is  a  variety  of  green  garnet  called  Bobrowsaka 
garnet  or  Uralian  emerald,  and  is  found  near  Poldnewaja,  district 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS     STONES  79 

of  Syssersk,  in  the  Ural  Mountains,  in  nodules  varying  from  iVto 
i  an  inch  across.  The  color  ranges  from  yellowish-green  or 
brownish-green  to  almost  yellow  emerald-green.  The  refractive 
power  of  th§  garnet  on  light  is  so  great  that  it  shows  a  remark- 
able amount  of  "  fire  "  by  artificial  light.  Its  hardness  is  only 
about  5  and  specific  gravity  is  3*85.  It  has  not  been  found  in  the 
United  States. 

Essonite,  cinnamon  garnet,  cinnamon-stone,  or  the  hyacinth 
of  the  jeweler,  has  been  found  of  good  quality  in  Oxford  County, 
Me.  Very  fine  essonites,  red  and  yellow,  were  formerly  found  at 
Phippsburgh,  Me.,  and  at  Warren,  N.  H.  Beautiful  essonite 
crystals,  i  inch  in  diameter,  entirely  transparent  and  quite  flat, 
have  been  found  between  plates  of  mica  at  Avondale  Quarry, 
Pa.,  and  near  Bakersville,  N.  C.  Some  of  these  would  cut 
into  fine  gems  over  a  carat  in  weight.  In  1882  grossularite  was 
found  in  perfect,  yellow-green,  opaque  crystals,  nearly  I  inch 
across,  in  the  GilaCafton,  Ariz.  The  finest  in  the  United  States 
are  the  rich,  dark,  oily-green  dodecahedral  crystals,  i  inch  in 
diameter,  from  the  Tilly  Foster  Mine,  Brewster,  N.  Y.  William 
P.  Blake  mentions  a  green  grossularite  found  in  copper  ore  near 
Petaluma,  Sonoma  County,  Cal.  In  the  cabinet  of  Dr.  Isaac 
Lea  are  transparent  crystals  of  a  dark  oily-green  grossularite, 
from  i  to  5  millimeters  long,  that  were  found  at  the  Good  Hope 
Mine,  California.  Some  fair  crystals  of  a  rich,  green  color,  from 
i  to  5  millimeters  in  diameter,  were  found  at  Hebron  and  West 
Minot,  Me.  At  none  of  these  localities,  however,  was  the  min- 
eral of  gem  value.  At  Amelia  Court  House,  Va.,  a  large 
quantity  of  spessartite  garnet,  which  is  a  variety  of  essonite  in 
which  part  of  the  alumina  is  replaced  by  manganous  oxide,  has 
been  found  in  masses  several  inches  across,  and  of  a  dark  brown, 
dark  red,  or  honey-yellow  color.  These  are  the  finest  specimens 
of  this  variety  of  garnet  ever  found,  and  have  been  cut  into  gems 
from  i  carat  to  100  carats  in  weight,  almost  rivaling  the  essonites 
from  Ceylon.  Some  of  the  most  beautiful  natural  gems  are  the 
microscopic  yellow  garnets,  evidently  spessartite,  found  in  clean- 
ing out  a  small  cavity  at  this  place.  The  beautiful  little  red 
spessartites  found  in  the  rhyolite  cavities  with  topaz,  at  Chalk 
Mountain,  Nathrop,  Chaff ee  County,  Col.,  and  in  Ruby  Valley, 


80  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

Elko  County,  Nev.,  are  perfect  gems,  so  splendent  are  they,  but 
they  are  generally  too  small  or  too  dark  in  color  for  jewelry. 

The  finest  pyrope  garnets  in  the  United  States  are  found  in 
New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  southern  Colorado,  where  they  are 
often  called  rubies.  In  New  Mexico  they  are  to  be  found,  it  is 
believed,  only  on  the  Navajo  Reservation,  where  the  Indians  col- 
lect them  in  large  quantities  from  ant-hills  and  scorpion-hills,  in 
the  sand,  and  also,  it  is  believed,  pound  them  out  of  the  rock. 
They  are  found  associated  with  olivine  and  chrome  pyroxene,  and 
in  northeastern  Arizona  they  are  found  in  loose  sand,  having  prob- 
ably been  brought  by  the  action  of  water  from  a  point  fifty  miles 
to  the  north,  where  they  are  supposed  to  occur  in  a  peridotite  rock, 
from  which  it  is  said  the  Indians  pound  them  out  with  stones.  In 
the  western  part  of  Arizona,  on  the  same  parallel  with  Fort  Defi- 
ance, on  both  sides  of  the  Colorado  River,  garnets  have  been 
observed  associated  with  grains  of  peridot,  a  chrome  pyroxene, 
and  a  hyaline  chalcedony.  They  are  also  found  on  the  ant-hills 
and  near  the  excavations  made  by  scorpions,  having  been  taken 
therefrom  by  the  busy  occupants  as  obstructions  to  the  erection  of 
their  galleries  and  chambers.  They  are  collected  by  soldiers  and 
Indians,  and  sold  to  the  Indian  traders,  who  send  them  to  the  large 
cities  in  lots  of  from  an  ounce  upward.  The  garnets  have  never 
been  found  in  place  by  any  of  the  geologists  or  any  surveyor  of 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  and  it  is  suggested  that  they 
are  derived  from  some  lower  cretaceous  sandstone ;  but  it  is  very 
evident,  from  the  associated  minerals,  that  they  have  weathered 
out  of  a  peridotitic  rock.  They  are  from  i  to  i  inch  in  diame- 
ter, rarely  over  £,  and  but  a  few  have  been  seen  that  measure 
£  inch  across.  In  form  they  are  generally  quite  round  and  pitted, 
often,  however,  with  fractured  edges,  as  if  they  had  been  rolled. 
They  average  well  for  quality  ;  one-half  are  worth  cutting,  and 
one-quarter  will  furnish  good  stones,  but  fine  ones  are  quite  rare. 
An  interesting  fact  in  connection  with  these  garnets  is  that  a  large 
proportion  of  them  contain  a  network  of  fine  acicular  crystals, 
evidently  rutile  from  their  arrangement,  as  has  been  suggested 
by  Babinet  and  Dr.  Isaac  Lea.1  Occasionally  these  grains  or 
pebbles  of  garnet  break  in  two  with  a  conchoidal  fracture,  reveal- 

1  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  Phil.,  Vol.  21,  p.  119,  May,  1869. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  8 1 

ing  in  the  center  a  small  grain  or  kernel  of  transparent  quartz. 
These  garnets  are  found  in  a  large  variety  of  tints  of  red,  claret, 
almandine,  and  even  yellow  essonite-colored  stones.  They  are 
often  believed  by  the  finders  to  be  spinels  or  rubies,  and  have 
been  sold  as  Arizona  or  Colorado  rubies. 

Although  the  garnets  found  in  washing  and  mining  dia- 
monds at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  so-called  "  Cape  Rubies," 
are  of  larger  size  than  those  found  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico, 
and  perhaps  equal  to  them  in  color  by  daylight,  the  latter  are 
much  superior  by  artificial  light,  only  the  clear,  blood-red  hue  be- 
ing visible,  while  in  the  "  Cape  Rubies  "  the  dark  color  remains 
unchanged.  They  are  extensively  used  as  gems,  the  annual  sales 
amounting  to  about  $5,000  worth  of  cut  stones.  A  few  remark- 
ably fine  ones  have  brought  $50  each,  though  stones  equally  good 
have  frequently  sold  for  much  less.  Fine  stones  of  i  carat  sell 
at  from  $i  to  $3  each,  the  exceptional  ones  rarely  for  $5. 
They  seldom  exceed  3  carats  in  size.  Pyrope  garnet  of  good 
color,  that  has  furnished  gems,  has  been  found  in  the  sands  of 
the  gold-washings  of  Burke,  McDowell,  and  Alexander  Counties, 
N.  C.  In  the  peridote  rock  of  Elliott  County,  Ky.,  are  found 
deep  ruby-red  grains  of  pyrope  garnet,  locally  regarded  as 
rubies,  having  a  specific  gravity  of  3*673,  and  varying  in  size 
from  rV  to  i  inch  in  diameter.  They  are  especially  abundant 
along  the  line  of  the  peridote  trap-dykes  in  the  soil  resulting 
from  the  disintegration  of  the  rock,  and  would  cut  into  gems 
almost  as  beautiful  as  those  from  Arizona.  Garnets  are  found 
in  many  localities  in  California  ;  at  Roger's  Mine,  in  the  eastern 
part  of  El  Dorado  County,  they  are  associated  with  specular 
iron,  calcite,  and  iron  and  copper  pyrites  ;  in  the  Coosa  district, 
Inyo  County,  they  are  found  in  large,  semi-crystalline  masses,  of 
a  light-yellow  color,  some  specimens  of  which  were  taken  to  San 
Francisco  under  the  impression  that  they  contained  tin.  Three 
miles  from  Pilot  Hill,  El  Dorado  County,  garnet  rock  is  found  in 
blocks  several  feet  thick.  They  also  occur  in  Plumas,  Mono, 
Fresno,  Los  Angeles,  and  San  Diego  Counties,  Cal.  In  Burke, 
Caldwell,  and  Catawba  Counties,  N.  C.,  are  found  large  dode- 
cahedral  and  trapezohedral  almandite  garnets,  coated  externally 
with  a  brown  crust  of  limonite,  the  result  of  superficial  altera- 


82  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

tion,  but  usually  showing  a  bright  and  very  compact  interior 
when  broken.  They  are  sometimes  as  fine  in  color  as  the 
Bohemian  garnets,  and  should  find  a  ready  use  for  watch  jewels 
and  other  like  purposes.  Some  of  the  crystals  which  have  been 
found,  weighing  20  pounds  each,  although  not  fine  enough  for 
gems,  might  be  cut  into  dishes  or  cups  measuring  from  3  to  6 
inches  across.  A  very  large  quantity  of  these  garnets  has  been 
found  about  eight  miles  southeast  of  Morgantown,  and  also  near 
Warlick,  in  Burke  County,  N.  C,  and  in  Rabun  County,  Ga. 
Many  of  them  are  transparent,  varying  in  color  from  the  purple 
almandine  to  pyrope  red.  Tons  of  these  have  been  crushed  to 
make  "  emery  "  and  the  sand-paper  called  garnet  paper.  The 
peculiar  play  of  color  observed  in  the  North  Carolina  garnets  is 
often  due  to  the  inclusions.  In  those  secured  in  Rabun  County, 
Ga.,  at  times  nearly  one-quarter  of  the  entire  specimen  is  taken  up 
by  fluid  cavities  containing  acicular  crystals  of  rutile.  Quanti- 
ties of  fine  purple  almandine  garnets,  which  are  found  in  the 
gravel  of  the  placer  mines  near  Lewiston,  Idaho,  in  rolled  and 
pitted  grains  from  TV  to  i  inch  across,  would  cut  into  good  gems 
or  jewels  for  watches.  Hoffmann  mentions  good  small  crystals 
from  Black  Cafton,  Colorado  River,  Nev.  Fine  small  almandine 
garnets  are  also  found  in  the  trachyte  of  White  Pine  County, 
Nev.  At  Acworth,  Graf  ton,  and  Hanover,  N.  H.,  garnets  of 
gem  value  have  often  been  found.  In  Essex  County,  N.  Y., 
many  tons  of  common  garnets  are  mined  annually  to  be  ground 
into  abrasive  materials.  Many  small  pieces  would  furnish  clear 
garnets,  and  occasionally  of  fine  color.  The  feldspar  quarry  at 
Avondale,  Pa.,  has  furnished  some  of  the  finest  known  crystals 
of  common  garnet ;  one  of  them,  perhaps  the  finest  specimen  of 
this  mineral  in  crystal  form,  measuring  2^  inches  across, 
imbedded  in  a  mass  of  quartzite,  is  of  a  rich  purplish-red  color, 
with  high  natural  polish  and  remarkably  sharp  angles.  It  is  in 
the  cabinet  of  Mr.  Bement.  At  Ruby  Mountain,  three  miles  from 
Salida,  Chaffee  County,  Col.,  is  a  remarkable  deposit  of  alman- 
dite-garnet  crystals  in  a  bed  of  green  chlorite.  These  crystals 
vary  in  weight  from  i  ounce  to  3  or  4  pounds  each,  and 
occasionally  10  or  12  pounds.  Two  very  perfect  crystals,  weigh- 
ing respectively  14  and  14^  pounds,  were  obtained  from 


ALMANDINE   GARNET   CRYSTAL 

FOUND    IN    NEW    YORK   CITV,   WEIGHING    9§    POUNDS 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  83 

this  locality.  They  were  simple  dodecahedrons  in  form,  and 
were  altered  to  chlorite  superficially  to  the  depth  of  tV  of  an 
inch.  Inside  they  are  very  compact,  and  often  show  two  or 
three  distinct  zones  of  color,  but  are  not  transparent,  hence 
not  of  gem  value.  From  the  fact  that  they  occur  in  so  soft  a 
matrix,  the  crystals  literally  fall  out  of  it  when  it  is  broken,  and 
hence  are  generally  perfect.  At  least  5  tons  of  these  crystals 
have  been  sold  to  collectors  and  tourists  for  cabinets,  for  use  as 
paper-weights  and  ornaments.  They  are  compact  enough  to 
make  them  valuable  for  watch  jewelry  or  for  ornamental  dishes. 
At  Russell,  Mass.,  a  vein  of  garnet,  very  dark  in  color,  and  called 
there  black  garnet  (not  melonite),  was  opened  about  1885,  and 
many  fine  crystals  were  obtained  and  exchanged  for  minerals, 
or  sold  as  specimens,  to  the  value  of  over  $1,000.  The 
colophonite  from  Millsborough,  N.  Y.,  although  of  a  beautifully 
rich,  iridescent  color,  has  never  been  utilized,  except  as  a  substi- 
tute for  emery,  owing  to  the  small  size  of  the  grains  and  the 
friability  of  the  large  masses.  At  Franklin,  Sussex  County, 
N.  J.,  immense  crystals  of  the  different  varieties,  melonite, 
polyadelphite,  colophonite,  etc.,  have  been  found,  but  rarely  in 
crystals  transparent  enough  to  afford  a  gem.  The  iron-alumina 
garnet  is  found  in  Concord  Township,  at  Deshong's  Quarry, 
Shaw  &  Ezra's  Quarry,  and  at  Upland,  near  Chester  ;  also  in 
Darby,  Acton,  Low  Providence,  Haverford,  and  Radnor  Town- 
ships, Pa.  A  dark-red  variety,  similar  to  pyrope  in  color,  is 
found  in  the  bed  of  Darby  Creek,  near  the  Lazaretto,  in 
Delaware  County.  Some  peculiar  garnets  of  a  deep  blood-red 
color  have  been  mistaken  for  pyrope.  Many  garnets  from  both 
Chester  and  Delaware  Counties  have  been  cut,  and  some  of 
them  have  proved  of  fine  quality  and  rich  color.  The  Alaska 
garnets,  which  are  so  well  known  for  their  remarkably  perfect 
crystals,  forming  such  a  beautiful  contrast  to  their  dark-gray 
matrix,  occur  in  great  quantities  near  the  mouth  of  the  Stikeen 
River,  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Wrangel,  Alaska.  They  are  found 
about  one  mile  from  the  river  in  a  bed  of  mica  schist,  and  after 
being  quarried  out,  are  transported  on  the  backs  of  men  to  the 
river,  and  thence  by  boat  to  Fort  Wrangel.  As  groups  of 
crystals,  they  are  the  finest  that  have  been  found  anywhere,  and 


84 


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86  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES 

many  thousands  of  specimens  have  been  brought  from  Alaska  in 
the  past  ten  years.  Some  time  ago  the  United  States  man-of- 
war  "  Corwin "  visited  the  place,  and  brought  away  specimens, 
which  are  now  in  the  United  States  National  Museum. 

The  beautiful  and  rare  species,  known  as  ouvarovite  or 
chrome  garnet,  was  first  described  as  occurring  in  the  United 
States  by  Prof.  Charles  U.  Shepard,  who  found  it  in  minute, 
nearly  transparent,  emerald-green  crystals,  TV  inch  in  diameter,  at 
Wood's  chrome  mine,  Lancaster  County,  Pa.  Ouvarovite  is 
found  in  large  quantities  at  Orford,  Canada,  adjoining  Newport, 
Vt.,  on  Lake  Memphremagog,  sometimes  in  masses  measuring 
over  i  foot  across.  The  crystals,  however,  are  very  small,  rarely 
over  TV  inch  in  diameter,  though  usually  of  good  color. 
The  white  garnet  of  that  locality,  described  by  Dr.  T.  Sterry 
Hunt,  although  not  in  crystals,  is  identical  with  the  fine  crystals 
found  at  Wakefield,  Canada,  and  has  been  cut  into  gems.  The 
Wakefield  ouvarovite  is  much  finer  than  the  Orford  variety. 
It  has  been  described  by  Waldemar  Lindgren  as  occurring  in 
small  crystals  associated  with  a  chromiferous  chlorite  related  to 
kotscheubeite,  from  Green  Valley  on  the  American  River  in  Cali- 
fornia. The  crystals  are  of  very  fine  color,  but  not  transparent 
enough  for  gems.1  Schorlomite,  which  has  recently  been  referred 
to  the  garnet  group,  is  really  a  titaniferous  garnet,  and  occurs  at 
Magnet  Cove,  Ark.  It  is  generally  penetrated  by  white  crystals 
of  apatite,  but  at  times  it  is  free  from  all  foreign  matters,  and 
very  compact,  breaking  with  a  bright  conchoidal  fracture.  On 
cutting  it  yields  a  dead  black  stone,  having  a  lustre  not  quite  as 
metallic  as  that  of  rutile,  but  rather  between  it  and  black  onyx. 
As  it  occurs  in  sufficient  quantity,  it  is  suggested  as  a  mineral 
that  will  afford  a  new  and  fine  mourning  gem.  Stones  can  be 
cut  of  any  size  up  to  perhaps  about  20  carats,  as  the  mineral  is 
found  of  sufficient  size.  The  first  stone  cut  was  over  6  carats  in 
weight.  Prof.  George  A.  Koenig,  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, describes  a  titaniferous  garnet  from  southwestern  Colorado, 
and  also  gives  an  analysis  of  so-called  schorlomite  from  Magnet 
Cove,  Ark.,  which  he  finds  to  be  titaniferous  garnet.  * 

1  See  Proc.  Cal.  Acad.  Sci.  II.,  Vol.  I,  Dec.,  1887. 
8Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  Phil.,  1886,  p.  355. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


Beryl  (Emerald.Aquamarine),  Chrysoberyl,  Phenacite,  and  Euclase. 


*    I    ^HE 

T 

° 


emerald  and  aquamarine  are  mineralogically  in- 
cluded in  the  species  of  beryl.  Their  difference  in 
color  is  due  to  slight  traces  of  other  compounds.  They 
crystallize  in  the  rhombohedral  system,  almost  always  in 
six-sided  prisms.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  transparent  beryl  is 
very  nearly  27,  the  hardness  of  the  aquamarine  being  8  and  the 
emerald  variety  about  7 '8.  The  emeralds  from  Muso  are  less 
hard  than  the  aquamarine  from  Siberia.  They  are  also  found  in 
Takowaja,  Siberia,  and  at  Zabara,  near  the  Red  Sea,  in  upper 
Egypt,  and  in  Habachthal,  Tyrol.  This  latter  locality  evidently 
furnished  some  of  the  material  used  in  ancient  Rome.  The  finest 
emeralds  are  found  in  isolated  crystals  and  in  geodes  with  calcite 
quartz,  iron  pyrites,  and  parisite,  and  in  a  clay  slate  rock  contain- 
ing fossiliferous  limestone  concretions,  at  the  Muso  Mine,  near 
Santa  Fe  de  Bogota,  New  Grenada.  Fine  blue  and  green  beryls 
are  found  in  Brazil,  Hindoostan,  Ceylon,  and  in  the  mica  schist  of 
the  right  bank  of  the  Takowaja  River,  Ekatharinenburg,  Siberia. 
The  emerald  variety  of  beryl  is  among  the  most  remarkable  of 
American  gem  minerals.  In  Alexander  County,  N.  C.,  emeralds, 
or  beryls  suggesting  them,  have  been  found  at  five  different  points, 
with  quartz,  rutile  (some  of  the  finest  ever  found),  dolomite,  mus- 
covite,  garnet,  apatite,  pyrite,  etc.,  all  in  fine  crystals.  One  of 
these  localities,  Stony  Point,  is  about  thirty-five  miles  southeast 


88  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains,  and  sixteen  miles  northeast  of 
Statesville,  N.  C.  The  surface  of  the  country  is  rolling,  the  alti- 
tude being  about  1,000  feet  above  sea  level.  The  soil,  which  is 
not  very  productive,  is  generally  a  red,  gravelly  clay,  resulting 
from  the  decomposition  of  the  gneissoid  rock,  and  under  these 
circumstances  it  is  easy  to  find  the  sources  of  minerals  discovered 
on  the  surface.  Prof.  Washington  C.  Kerr's  theory  of  the 
"frost-drift"  is  strongly  confirmed  by  the  conditions  that 
prevail  throughout  this  region.  The  unaltered  rock  was  found 
at  Stony  Point  at  a  depth  of  26  feet  and  is  unusually 
hard,  especially  the  walls  of  the  gem-bearing  pockets.  A 
corporation  called  the  Emerald  and  Hiddenite  Mining  Company 
was  organized  to  work  the  property  at  Stony  Point,  and  has 
prosecuted  the  search  for  gems  irregularly,  for  periods  varying 
from  one  week  to  eight  months  of  each  year.  The  entire 
output,  including  specimens  and  gems,  has  amounted  to  about 
$15,000.  The  history  of  the  discovery  of  the  deposit  and  its 
subsequent  development  is  best  told  in  the  words  of  William  E. 
Hidden,  the  Superintendent.  Recounting  the  discovery  of 
the  mine,  he  says:1  "Sixteen  years  ago  the  site  of  the  mine 
now  being  worked  was  covered  with  a  dense  primitive  forest. 
Less  than  ten  years  ago  (1871),  this  county  was  mineralogically 
a  blank;  nothing  was  known  to  exist  here  having  any  special 
value  or  interest.  Whatever  we  know  of  it  to-day  is  due  directly 
or  indirectly  to  the  earnest  field  work  done  here  in  the  past 
seven  years  by  J.  A.  D.  Stephenson,  a  native  of  the  county, 
now  a  well-to-do  and  respected  merchant  of  Statesville,  N.  C. 
Under  a  promise  of  reward  for  success,  he  engaged  the  farmers 
for  miles  around  to  search  carefully  over  the  soil  for  minerals, 
Indian  relics,  etc.,  and  for  several  years  he  enjoyed  surprising 
success  in  thus  gathering  specimens.  .  .  .  The  amount  and  vari- 
ety of  the  material  gathered  in  this  way  was  simply  astonishing, 
and  his  sanguine  expectations  were  more  than  realized.  To  be 
brief  and  to  the  point  I  will  state  that  from  a  few  localities  in  the 
County  Mr.  Stephenson  would  occasionally  procure  crystals  of 
beryl  of  the  ordinary  kind,  but  now  and  then  a  semi-transparent 
prism  of  beryl,  having  a  decided  grass-green  tint,  would  be  brought 

1  The  Discovery  of  Emeralds  in  North  Carolina,  by  W.  E.  Hidden.     Privately  printed,  8vo, 
4  p.,  1881,  and  also  Trans.  N.  Y.  Acad.  Sci.,  1882,  p.  101-105. 


<5/>>    OP  THB 

[U5TI7EESIT7] 


PLATE  No.  5 


CbpyriS&tl890,  by  fhe  St  .rnlific  Rib  Co  N  Y 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  89 

to  him.  These  the  farmers  named  '  green  rocks  or  bolts/  and 
became  the  principal  object  of  the  people's  searchings.  Mr. 
Stephenson  had  told  them  that  a  dark-green  beryl  would  be  val- 
uable if  clear  and  perfect,  would  in  fact  be  the  emerald,  and  for 
them  to  search  more  carefully  than  ever  to  find  one.  Surely,  he 
had  informed  the  people  aright,  and  had  given  them  a  rara  avis 
to  look  for.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  within  a  period  of  about 
six  years  there  was  found  on  three  plantations  in  this  county, 
loose  in  the  soil,  a  number,  say  ten,  of  veritable  emeralds,  none 
of  which,  however,  were  dark-colored  or  transparent  enough  for 
use  as  gems.  All  of  these  specimens  went  into  Mr.  Stephen- 
son's  collection,  with  the  single  exception  of  one  very  choice 
crystal  obtained  at  that  locality  by  the  late  John  T.  Humphreys, 
which  crystal  is  now  in  the  New  York  State  Museum  at  Albany, 
after  first  being  in  the  collection  of  the  late  Doctor  Eddy  of 
Providence."  The  original  find  consisted  of  nine  crystals,  one 
of  which  was  8£  inches  in  length  (see  Colored  Plate  No.  5),  and 
weighed  9  ounces  ;  one  was  5  inches  ;  others  were  over  3  inches  in 
length.  For  two  months  during  the  summer  of  1885,  mining  was 
carried  on  with  flattering  success.  In  the  soil  overlying  the  rock, 
nine  crystals  of  emerald  were  found,  all  doubly  terminated  and 
measuring  from  i  inch  to  $-  inch  (25  to  77  millimeters)  in 
width.  This  latter  crystal  is  very  perfect  as  a  specimen ; 
it  is  of  a  fine  light-green  color,  is  doubly  terminated,  and  weighs 
8f  ounces,  or  only  i  ounce  less  than  the  famous  Duke  of  Dev- 
onshire emerald  crystal.  Another  crystal,  doubly  terminated, 
and  measuring  2^  inches  (63  millimeters)  by  yi  inch  (23  milli- 
meters) is  filled  with  large  rhombohedral  cavities,  formerly  con- 
taining dolomite.  As  mineral  specimens,  these  crystals  are  quite 
unique.  The  only  gem  which  has  been  cut  from  this  find  was 
from  a  crystal  found  in  a  pocket  at  a  depth  of  over  43  feet.  In 
color  it  is  a  pleasing  light  green  and  weighs  4ff  carats.  In  1887, 
at  the  depth  of  about  70  feet,  another  crystal  that  was  cut  into  a 
gem  of  5  carats  was  found.  Both  are  too  light  in  color  to  rank 
as  fine  gems.  The  two  largest  emeralds,  and  a  series  of  the  smal- 
ler ones,  are  in  the  cabinet  of  Clarence  S.  Bement.  Some  fine 
ones  are  in  the  British  Museum  mineral  cabinet.  The  fine 
emerald  color  characteristic  of  many  of  the  crystals  is  confined  to 


9O  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

the  border  from  Tfg-  to  rihr  inches  in  thickness  around  the  edge 
and  near  the  termination  of  the  crystals.1  If  this  edge  were 
thicker,  fine  gems  could  be  cut  from  it.  The  finding  of  fine 
beryls  and  emeralds  of  pale  color,  collected  by  Mr.  Stephenson, 
one  mile  southwest  of  the  Stony  Point  deposit  and  a  short 
distance  from  the  place  where  the  same  mineral  was  found  by 
Mr.  Smeaton,  of  New  York,  shows  that  the  deposit  is  evidently 
not  accidental,  and  that  there  is  encouragement  for  future  work- 
ing in  this  new  locality. 

Some  beautiful  beryls  were  found  at  Haddam,  Conn.,  over 
fifty  years  ago,  the  largest  of  which  was  2  inches  in  length  and 
i  inch  in  diameter.  They  were  remarkable  from  the  fact  that  part 
of  the  crystal  was  of  a  transparent  green  color  and  free  from 
flaws,  while  below  a  certain  line  of  demarcation  the  whole  was 
white  and  opaque,  as  if  it  were  a  flocculent  precipitate.  Fine 
specimens  from  this  locality  are  in  the  Peabody  Museum  of  Yale 
University,  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  the  William  S.  Vaux  Collec- 
tion, at  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and 
the  Bement  Collection  in  the  same  city.  The  largest  beryls  of 
the  world  are  found  at  Graf  ton  and  Acworth,  N.  H.  From  the 
former  locality  a  crystal  6£  feet  long  was  quarried  and  another 
weighing  over  2^  tons.  One  obtained  from  the  Acworth  Quar- 
ries was  4  feet  long  and  2%  feet  in  diameter.  One  of  the  best 
known  is  on  exhibition  in  the  rooms  of  the  Boston  Society  of 
Natural  History.  (See  Illustration.)  It  is  a  hexagonal  prism, 
3^  feet  long  by  3  feet  wide,  and  weighs  several  tons.  There  is 
also  an  immense  beryl  in  the  United  States  National  Museum, 
that  weighs  over  600  pounds.  These  large  crystals  are  of  a  pale- 
green  color.  Some  very  large  crystals  still  remain  in  the  quar- 
ries, where  they  can  be  seen,  but  their  extraction  is  a  matter  of 
considerable  expense,  as  it  involves  the  moving  of  a  great  deal 
of  rock,  and,  moreover,  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  them  out  whole, 
since  the  material  of  which  beryls  are  composed  is  very  brittle  and 
filled  with  rifts,  and  a  slight  jar  is  sufficient  to  break  them  when 
they  are  not  well  supported ;  large  crystals,  consequently,  have 
always  been  securely  hooped  before  any  attempt  was  made  to  move 
them.  Such  specimens  rarely  have  transparent  spots  so  large  as  to 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  33,  p.  505,  June,  1887. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  9! 

allow  the  cutting  of  even  a  small  gem.  The  beryls  from  Monroe, 
Conn.,  often  present  interrupted  curvatures  as  shown  in  Fig.  2. 
During  the  last  twenty  years  many  beryls,  approaching  those  from 
New  Hampshire  in  magnitude,  have  been  found  in  other  localites, 
chiefly  in  Oxford  County,  Me.,  in  North  Carolina,  and  in  Amelia 
County,  Va.,  all  of  which  have  furnished  crystals  from  2  to  4  feet 
in  length  and  i  foot  or  more  in  diameter.  Only  occasionally 
small  spaces  are  clear  enough  to  afford  gems.  Mr.  Stephenson 
called  the  attention  of  the  writer  to  a  crystal  of  dark-green  beryl, 
weighing  25*4  ounces,  part  of  which  would  furnish  gems  of  some 
size,  that  was  found  in  January,  1888,  near  Russell  Gap  Road, 
Alexander  County,  N.  C.,  by  a  farmer  plowing.  This  locality  is 
about  ten  miles  from  the  Alexander  County  Emerald  Mine,  and 
is  the  largest  beryl  deposit  affording  gems  that  has  been  found  in 
North  Carolina.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  highly  modified 
beryls  of  this  region  occur  rarely,  and  only 
when  associated  with  spodumene  or  albite, 
and  also  that  the  white  or  pale-greenish 
beryls  are  found  with  the  deepest  green 
spodumene.  It  has  before  been  noted  that 
the  quartz  and  beryl  of  Alexander  County 
are  more  highly  modified  when  implanted 
on  the  feldspathic  layers  of  the  walls  of  the  pockets.  Two 
emerald  beryls,  which  were  found  in  1 88 1,  at  a  depth  of  34  feet, 
were  in  a  little  pocket,  the  walls  of  which  were  almost  covered 
with  crystals  of  albite  twinned  parallel  to  the  base.  Only  four 
emeralds  were  found,  averaging  about  i  centimeter  in  the  three 
dimensions.  The  pocket  was  free  from  all  decomposition  what- 
ever. The  crystals  were  of  good  color,  transparent,  and  had 
their  commoner  planes  well  polished,  but  they  differed  to  some 
extent  in  habit.1  Blue  beryl  in  fine  crystals  that  afforded 
fair  gems  was  reported  by  William  E.  Hidden  from  Mitchell 
County,  near  the  Yancey  County  line,  N.  C.  In  the  State 
cabinet  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  is  a  curious  beryl  found  by  S.  C. 
Hatch  at  Auburn,  Me.  It  is  of  imperfect  structure  and  broken 
diagonally  across,  showing  the  structure  to  advantage.  (See 
Fig.  2.)  It  is  8£  inches,  30  centimeters  high,  8|  inches,  22 

'  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  33,  p.  505,  June,  1887. 


FIG.  a. 

BERYL. 


92  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

centimeters  wide,  and  has  fifty  different  layers,  twenty-five 
of  beryl,  the  remaining  twenty-five  of  albite,  quartz,  and  mus- 
covite.  All  the  corners  of  the  hexagonal  prism  are  carried  out 
in  full,  giving  the  beryl  an  asteriated  appearance,  and  making 
it  a  striking  and  interesting  specimen.  Prof.  Parker  Cleaveland 
mentions1  having  seen  several  emeralds  from  Topsham,  Me.,  of  a 
lively  green  color,  scarcely,  if  at  all,  inferior  to  the  finest  Peru- 
vian emeralds ;  also  two  beautiful  rose-colored  beryls,  over 
i  inch  across,  have  been  found  at  Goshen,  Mass.,  and  are  in  the 
Gibbs  Cabinet  at  Yale  University.  An  emerald  from  Haddam, 
Conn.,  deep  green  in  color,  an  inch  in  diameter  and  several  inches 
in  length,  is  mentioned  in  Bruce's  " Mineralogical  Journal"*  as 
belonging  to  Col.  George  Gibbs'  cabinet ;  but  as  no  true  emeralds 
from  Haddam  and  Topsham  are  in  existence,  this  may  really 
be  a  dark-green  beryl,  as  the  species  beryl  is  in  that  locality 
called  emerald. 

In  the  United  States  National  Museum,  at  Washington,  are 
three  beryls,  one  6  carats  in  weight,  of  a  light-green  color,  another 
i  carat,  light-blue,  from  Royalston,  Mass.,  and  a  third  and  per- 
haps the  finest  specimen  ever  found  at  the  Portland,  Conn.,  quar- 
ries, is  15  carats  in  weight,  and  of  a  rich  sea-blue  color,  almost 
deep  enough  to  rival  in  splendor  the  superb  3-carat  Brazilian  blue- 
stone  that  is  in  the  same  case.  The  writer  obtained  at  Stoneham, 
Oxford  County,  Me.,  two  beryls,  exceptional  for  the  United 
States.  These  were  found  in  1881,  several  miles  apart,  and  sev- 
eral miles  from  the  topaz  region,  by  farmers  who  were  traversing 
pastures  in  the  township.  The  first  was  found  in  two  pieces,  as 
if  it  had  been  roughly  used,  and  broken,  and  discarded  as  worth- 
less, or  else  broken  in  taking  from  the  rock  and  then  rejected,  its 
value  not  being  known.  This  crystal  measured  4!  inches  (120 
millimeters)  long,  and  2yV  inches  (54  millimeters)  wide,  and  was 
originally  about  5  inches  (130  millimeters)  long,  and  3  inches  (75 
millimeters)  wide.  The  color  was  rich  sea-green  viewed  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  longer  axis  of  the  prism,  and  sea-blue  of  a  very- 
deep  tint  through  the  side  of  the  crystal.  In  color  and  material, 
this  is  the  finest  specimen  that  has  been  found  at  any  North 

1  Mineralogy  and  Geology,  by  Parker  Cleaveland,  p.  341,  Boston,  1822. 
«  Vol.  5,  p.  9,  1813. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  93 

American  locality,  and  the  crystals,  unbroken,  would  equal  the 
finest  foreign  crystals  known.  It  furnished  the  finest  aquamarine 
ever  found  in  the  United  States,  measuring  if  inches  (35  milli- 
meters) by  if  inches  (35  millimeters),  by  f  inch  (20  millimeters). 
It  was  cut  as  a  brilliant  and  weighs  133!  carats.  The  color  is 
bluish-green,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  hairlike  internal 
striations,  is  perfect.  (See  Colored  Plate  No.  5.)  In  addition 
to  this  remarkable  gem,  the  same  crystal  furnished  over  300 
carats  of  fine  stones.  The  other  crystal  is  doubly  terminated, 
being  if  inches  (41  millimeters)  long,  and  f  inch  (15  millimeters) 
in  diameter.  Half  of  it  is  transparent,  with  a  faint  green  color, 
the  remainder  is  of  a  milky  green  and  only  translucent.  Where 
the  two  colors  meet,  the  crystal,  like  the  Haddam  beryls,  has 
the  appearance  of  a  solution  in  which  a  flocculent  precipitate 
has  almost  completely  settled,  leaving  the  upper  portion  nearly 
clear. 

Beryl,  resembling  the  Siberian,  is  found  in  greenish-yellow  and 
deep-green  crystals,  in  the  South  Mountains,  nine  miles  southwest 
of  Morganton,  Burke  County ;  in  the  Sugar  Mountains  at  Shoup's 
Ford,  Dietz's,  Huffman's,  and  Hildebrand's ;  and  in  smaller 
crystals  in  Jackson  County,  N.  C.  One  fine  blue-green  crystal 
in  quartz  was  found  at  Mill's  Gold  Mine,  Burke  County,  and  one 
fine  transparent  green  crystal  from  that  vicinity  is  now  in  the 
cabinet  of  M.  T.  Lynde,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Fine  blue-green 
aquamarine  occurs  at  Ray's  Mine  on  Hurricane  Mountain, 
Yancey  County,  N.  C.  Clear  green  beryls  have  been  found 
at  Balsam  Gap,  Buncombe  County ;  Carter's  Mine,  Madison 
County ;  Thorn  Mountain,  Macon  County,  and  at  Wells, 
Gaston  County.  Some  crystals  2  feet  long  and  7  feet  in  diam- 
eter, small  pieces  of  which  would  cut  into  gems  with  small,  clear 
spots,  occur  four  miles  south  of  Bakersville  Creek,  and  still 
larger  crystals,  not  of  gem  value,  at  Grassey  Creek,  N.  C. 
Beautiful  transparent  beryls  have  been  found  at  Streaked  Moun- 
tains, Norway,  Lovell,  Bethell,  and  Franklin  Plantation,  Me., 
and  very  good  ones  also  at  Mount  Mica  and  Graf  ton,  Me.  At 
Albany,  Me.,  have  been  found  beautiful  transparent  golden- 
yellow  beryls  that  would  cut  into  perfect  gems  of  over  2 
carats  each.  A  fine  sea-green  aquamarine  beryl,  weighing 


94  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

about  7  carats,  was  found  near  Sumner,  Me.  Some  very  clear 
white  stones  are  obtained  at  Pearl  Hill,  Fitchburg,  Mass., 
and  are  there  sold  by  the  local  dealers.  A  very  fine  golden- 
yellow  beryl  of  4  carats,  from  this  locality,  is  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Doctor  Hamlin.  Fine  crystals  of  beryl,  of  almost 
emerald-green  color,  also  beautiful  yellowish-green  and  bluish 
beryls,  are  found  in  Deshong's  Quarry,  near  Leiperville,  Pa.  At 
Shaw  &  Ezra's  Quarry,  near  Chester,  in  Upper  Providence,  and 
in  Middletown,  Concord,  and  Marple  Townships,  fine  specimens 
have  been  found.  Fine  beryls  also  have  been  found  at  White 
Horse,  three  or  four  miles  below  Darby,  Pa.  Bluish-green  and 
blue  beryls  occur  in  the  vicinity  of  Unionville,  Newlin  Township, 
and  on  Brandywine  battlefield,  in  Birmingham  Township.  One 
crystal,  of  a  dark  tourmaline  green  tint,  over  £  inch  long,  in  the 
cabinet  of  Michael  Bradley,  of  Chester,  Pa.,  is  from  Middletown, 
Delaware  County,  and  would  afford  a  fine  gem.  Some  of  the 
stones  here  have  much  the  appearance  of  bluish  emeralds.  The 
finest  golden-yellow  beryls  are  found  at  the  Avondale  Quarries, 
Delaware  County,  Pa.  A  2ocarat  gem  is  in  the  cabinet  of  Mrs. 
M.  J.  Chase,  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  material  for  another  is  in  the 
cabinet  of  Clarence  S.  Bement.  In  1882  B.  B.  Chamberlin  found 
in  Manhattan ville,  New  York  City,  six  fine  yellow  beryls  that  cut 
into  stones  of  I  to  2  carats  each.  At  a  mica  mine  in  Litchfield 
County,  Conn.,  between  Litchfield  and  New  Milford,  were  found 
during  the  past  four  years  a  quantity  of  deep-yellow,  light-yellow, 
yellow-green,  light-green,  and  white  beryls,  which  were  cut  into 
gems  and  extensively  sold  as  jewelry,  the  former  under  the  name 
of  golden  beryl.  Several  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  beryls 
from  this  locality  were  annually  sold.  These  beryls  were 
at  first  placed  on  the  New  York  market  as  an  entirely 
new  stone,  said  to  be  very  nearly  as  hard  as  the  sap- 
phire, and  to  be  from  some  South  American  locality.  Prof. 
Eugene  A.  Smith,  State  Geologist  of  Alabama,  obtained 
from  Coosa  County,  Ala.,  some  light,  golden-yellow  beryls  of 
sufficient  transparency  to  furnish  small  gems.  Large  masses 
weighing  many  pounds,  of  translucent,  light  sea-green  beryl, 
were  obtained  at  Branchville,  Conn.,  in  connection  with  other 
minerals  described  by  Prof.  George  J.  Brush  and  Prof.  Edward 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  95 

S.  Dana.     These  were  handsome  enough  to  furnish  ornamental 
objects,  small  balls  i  or  2  inches  in  diameter,  charms,  etc. 

Aquamarine  has  been  found  in  a  number  of  localities  in  the 
United  States,  the  principal  among  them  being  Royalston, 
Mass. ;  Acworth,  N.  H. ;  Graf  ton,  Vt. ;  Burke  County  ;  Stony 
Point,  N.  C. ;  Paris,  Me. ;  Fitchburg,  Mass. ;  and  Avondale,  Pa. 
The  richest  colored  gems  from  any  known  locality  have  been 
found  at  Royalston,  Mass.  Although  small,  they  are  almost  as 
blue  as  sapphire.  Large,  clear  gems  of  light-blue  and  sea-green 
tint  have  been  found  at  Acworth,  Grafton,  and  Stony  Point ;  at 
the  latter  locality  shading  into  beryl-emerald.  The  crystals  of 
beryl  found  associated  with  phenacite  on  Mount  Antero,  Chaffee 
County,  Col.,  are  obtained  at  an  altitude  of  from  12,000  to  14,000 
feet,  and  vary  in  size  from  i  to  4  inches  in  length  and  from  yV  to 
i  inch  in  diameter.  As  crystals,  they  are  re- 
markable for  the  fact  that  portions  of  them 
have  been  entirely  dissolved  or  eaten  away, 
which  gives  them  a  peculiar  etched  appear- 
ance. In  a  number  of  instances  not  only 
have  the  ends  of  the  crystals  entirely  disap- 
peared, occasionally  leaving  long,  needle-like 
projections,  but  holes  have  been  eaten 
through  the  crystal.  In  color  they  vary  from  CHRYSOBKRYL. 
a  very  light-blue  to  quite  a  dark  sky-blue,  almost  as  rich  as 
some  of  the  finest  Brazilian  crystals.  They  would  furnish  gems 
up  to  10  carats  in  weight,  the  largest  one  cut  weighing  5  carats. 

A  variety  of  blue  beryl,  called  goshenite,  occurs  at  Goshen, 
Mass.,  in  pieces  transparent  enough  to  afford  gems.  Chryso- 
beryl  occurs  in  orthorhombic  prisms,  and  frequently  more  or  less 
modified  as  shown  in  Fig.  3.  Its  hardness  is  8*5,  next  to  that 
of  sapphire,  and  its  specific  gravity  is  from  3*65  to  3*85.  In 
color  it  varies  from  yellow  or  golden-yellow  through  brown  and 
green,  including  a  large  series  of  sage-green  and  leaf-green,  as 
well  as  rich  brown.  Alexandrite  is  the  variety  of  chrysoberyl 
that  is  colored  by  chromium.  It  is,  by  natural  light,  of 
a  deep  leaf  or  olive-green  color,  but  by  candle-light  appears  a  rasp- 
berry or  columbine-red  shade.  The  true  cat's-eye  is  a  variety  of 
chrysoberyl  that  owes  its  chatoyancy  to  minute  internal  striations 


96 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


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UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


97 


of  the  composite  crystals  of  which  the  latter  is  made  up,  or  the 
twinning  of  the  crystal ;  or  when  certain  minerals  have  been  de- 
posited between  the  layers  during  crystallization,  the  stone,  being 
cut  en  cabochon  across  these  lines,  exhibits  the  phenomenon. 
The  stellate  effect  frequently  produced  by  the  twinning  of  chryso- 
beryl  is  shown  in  Fig.  4.  Alexandrite  was  named  after  Alex- 
ander I.,  Czar  of  Russia,  on  whose  birthday  it  was  discovered. 
Large  crystals  that  occasionally  furnish  gems  are  found  in 
Takowaja,  Siberia.  Fine  gems,  up  to  67  carats  each,  have  been 
found  during  the  last  ten  years  in  the  kingdom  of  Kandy,  Ceylon, 
associated  with  the  true  cat's-eye,  and  the  yellow,  brown,  and 
green  chrysoberyl.  This  is  also  found  in  the  alexandrite  variety, 
but  it  is  extremely  rare.  Beautiful  light-golden  chrysoberyls  (the 
chrysolite  of  the  jeweler,  valued  at  nearly  as  high  a  rate  as  the 


FIG.  4. 
STELLATE  EFFECTS  FREQUENTLY  PRODUCED   BY  THE  TWINNING  OF  THE  CHRYSOBERYL. 

diamond  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.)  have  been  found  in  Brazil, 
also  fine  light-yellow  cat's-eyes. 

Chrysoberyl,  of  sufficient  transparency  to  be  of  gem  value, 
is  not  found  in  North  America.  It  has  been  found  at  Stoneham, 
also  at  Canton,  Peru,  Norway,  and  Stow,  Me.,  but  thus  far  not 
in  fine  specimens.  Some  of  the  small  yellow  crystals  occurring 
in  the  fibrolite  at  Stoneham  are,  however,  quite  perfect  in  form. 
Small  crystals  occur  at  Canton  and  Stow,  Me.,  together  with 
large,  coarse  crystals.  At  Stow1  it  has  been  found  in  masses 
weighing  about  5  pounds  each.  A  single  distorted  crystal 
3  by  5  by  i  inches,  opaque,  and  of  a  dull  yellow-gray  color,  has 
also  been  found,  which  may  in  part  furnish  very  poor  chryso- 
beryl cat's-eye.  Nathaniel  H.  Perry  found  one  small,  very  perfect 
crystal  at  Tubb's  Ledge,  Me.,  and  it  has  also  been  observed  at 

1  Trans.  N.  Y.  Acad.  Sci.,  Vol.  2,  p.  64,  Jan.  22,  1883. 


98 


GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


Speckled  Mountain,  Norway,  Me.,  by  Prof.  Addison  E.  Verrill. 
A  crystal  3^  inches  long  by  i  inch  wide,  from  Topsham,  Me., 
and  one  i|  inches  long  by  i  inch  wide,  from  Buckfield,  Me.,  are 
in  the  collection  of  Prof.  George  J.  Brush,  of  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Rev.  Frederick  Merrick  stated  that  he  had  collected,  fifty  years 
ago,  some  crystals  that  he  believed  would  furnish  gems,  but 
perhaps  not  of  the  finest  quality,  at  Haddam,  Conn.,  the  old 
and  well-known  locality  now  exhausted.  At  Greenfield,  one 
mile  north  of  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.,  now  also  exhausted,  were 
found  many  beautiful  crystals ;  also  in  New  Hampshire  in  gran- 
ite, at  the  deep  cut  of  the  Northern  Railroad,  at  Orange  Summit. 
None  of  these  localities,  however,  has  furnished  a  fine  gem.  The 
most  promising  localities  are  those  in  Maine,  and  gems,  if  found  at 
all,  will  be  likely  to  occur  there.  Haddam,  Conn.,  has  furnished 

CHRYSOBERYL 


CHEMICAL    COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

Theoretical 
Composition 

LOCALITY 
Haddam,  Conn. 
Analyst, 
Damour.1 

LOCALITY 
North  America. 
Analyst, 
Thomson.' 

LOCALITY 
Haddam,  Conn. 
Analyst, 
Damour.  * 

LOCALITY 
Haddam,  Conn. 
Analyst, 
Damour.4 

Ferrous  Oxide  
Alumina  

8o'  20 
19-20 

76-99 
18-88 
4-I3 

4'49 
7675 
1779 

0-48 

76'02 
I8-4I 
4'5I 

75'43 
I7-93 
4-06 

Beryllia  

Ferric  Oxide  

Titanic  Oxide  

Loss  on  Ignition  .  .  . 

1  Typical  Analysis,  Rammelsberg's  Mineral  Chemie,  p.  128.         a  Phillip's  Mineralogy,  1852,  p.  268. 
3t  *  Damour,  Ann.  Chim.  Phys.  III.,  7,  173. 

many  fine  twin  crystals.  Among  some  rolled  quartz  pebbles  sent 
from  North  Carolina  for  examination,  a  transparent  yellow 
chrysoberyl  was  observed,  which  would  afford  a  ^-carat  stone. 
The  alexandrite  variety  of  chrysoberyl  has  not  been  observed. 

Phenacite  crystallizes  in  the  rhombohedral  system.  Its  hard- 
ness is  about  8  and  its  specific  gravity  about  3*0.  It  is  a  silicate 
of  glucinum.  The  colorless,  transparent  variety  is  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  stones  known,  occasionally  showing  prismatic 
colors  (or  fire),  by  candle  or  artificial  light.  The  finest  large 
specimens  known  are  found  at  Takowaja,  fifty-six  miles  east  of 
Ekaterinburg,  in  Siberia.  Phenacite  was  first  identified  in  the 
United  States  in  1882,  when  it  was  discovered  in  the  Pike's  Peak 
Region,  Col.,1  and  more  recently  on  Bald  Mountain,  North 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  in.,  Vol.  24,  p.  282,  Oct.,  1882. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  99 

Chatham,  N.  H.  Both  localities  have  furnished  crystals  of 
sufficient  size  and  quality  to  be  cut  into  fair  gems.  The  first 
occurrence  of  this  mineral  in  the  United  States  was  mentioned 
by  Whitman  Cross  and  W.  F.  Hillebrand,1  who  published  a  short 
description  and  figure  of  a  crystal  occurring  with  mica  and  amazon- 
stone  in  El  Paso  County,  Pike's  Peak  Range,  Col.,  where  some 
of  the  largest  crystals  in  the  United  States  have  been  found. 
The  largest  and  finest  phenacite  crystal  ever  found  in  the 
United  States  is  the  one  in  the  possession  of  Clarence  S. 
Bement.  It  is  from  Crystal  Park,  Col.,  and  weighs  59  penny- 
weights and  6  grains,  and  measures  nearly  2  inches  (46*5  milli- 
meters) in  length,  and  i|  inches  (32  millimeters)  in  thickness. 
Occasional  transparent  spots  are  noticeable  in  it.  A  second 
locality  is  at  Topaz  Butte,  near  Florissant,  about  sixteen  miles 


FIG.   5. 
CRYSTAL  OF  I'HENACITK  FROM   COLORADO. 


from  Pike's  Peak.  The  crystals  here  are  usually  implanted 
on  amazonstone  and  topaz.  Many  hundreds  of  them  were 
found,  varying  in  size  from  ^V  inch  to  f  inch  (i  millimeter 
to  20  millimeters)  in  diameter,  of  which  quite  a  number  were 
transparent.  They  are  often  readily  detached,  or  occur  in  a 
brown  mass  believed  to  be  fayalite.  The  other  Colorado  locality 
is  Mount  Antero,  where  the  crystals  are  found  at  an  altitude 

'Am.  J.  Sci.,  III.,  Vol.  24,  p.  282,  Oct.,  1882.  See  also  full  description  of  phenacites  from 
Crystal  Park  and  Florissant,  Col.,  by  Whitman  Cross  and  W.  F.  Hillebrand  in  Bulletin  No.  20, 
of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  Washington,  1885.  Phenacite  from  the  Florissant  locality 
was  described  later  by  William  E.  Hidden,  Am.  J.  Sci.,  III.,  Vol.  29,  p.  249,  March,  1885.  The 
crystals  at  Florissant  were  first  found  by  J.  G.  Heistand,  of  Manitou,  Col.  See  Samuel  L. 
Penfield,  Am.  J.  Sci.,  III.,  Vol.  36,  p.  320,  Nov.  1888. 


IOO  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

of  about  14,000  feet,  in  a  region  of  almost  perpetual  snow,  which 
is  accessible  for  only  a  short  period  during  the  summer.  Hun- 
dreds of  crystals  have  been  found  attached  to  and  implanted  on 
quartz  crystals,  transparent  beryl,  and  Baveno  twin  crystals  of 
orthoclase  feldspar.  The  largest  crystal  found  measured  over 
i  inch  across  and  was  nearly  i  inch  long.  The  crystals  are 
nearly  all  quartzoids  or  simple  rhombohedrons.  (See  Fig.  5.) 
Some  have  a  faint  wine-color  and  others  a  smoky,  bluish  tinge. 
Some  smoky  quartz  crystals,  with  crystals  of  phenacite  in  the 
center,  were  observed.  In  May,  1888,  E.  A.  Andrews,  of  Stow, 
Me.,  discovered  some  crystals  of  phenacite  on  Bald  Mountain, 
North  Chatham,  N.  H.,  near  the  State  line  between  Maine  and 
New  Hampshire,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Stoneham,  Me. 
They  were  found  in  a  vein  of  coarse  albitic  granite,1  associated 
with  crystals  of  smoky  quartz,  topaz,  and  muscovite,  some  im- 
planted on  smoky  quartz,  a  few  attached  so  loosely  to  the 
matrix  by  one  of  the  rhombohedral  faces  that  they  could  be  re- 
moved without  being  broken.  They  were  about  fifty  in  number, 
lenticular  in  shape,  and  measured  from  i  inch  to  £  inch  (3  milli- 
meters to  12  millimeters)  across,  and  from  -fa  inch  to  -J-  inch 
(i  millimeter  to  3  millimeters)  in  thickness.  They  were  all  white 
or  colorless,  with  polished  faces,  and  for  the  most  part  very  sim- 
ple in  form.  The  series  from  Pike's  Peak,  Col.,  has  been  described 
by  Prof.  Samuel  L.  Penfield.'  Few  of  the  phenacites  found  in 
the  United  States  have  been  cut  into  gems,  but  several  thousand 
dollars'  worth  have  been  sold  as  mineralogical  specimens,  and  now 
adorn  the  cabinets  of  the  world. 

Mention  is  made  of  euclase  in  the  United  States  as  follows : 
Several  crystals  were  reported  as  having  been  found  at  Mills's 
Spring,  Polk  County,  N.  C.,  by  Gen.  Thomas  L.  Clingman,  in 
washing  the  gold  sand  at  this  locality,  but  Prof.  Frederick  A. 
Genth  says3  that  they  were  not  euclase.  It  was  also  mentioned 
as  having  been  found  in  connection  with  topaz  at  Trumbull, 
Conn.,  but  this  report  proved  incorrect.4  With  the  full  series  of 
glucinum  found  in  this  country,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  euclase 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  27,  p.  212,  March,  1884. 
5  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  33,  p.  131,  Feb.,  1887. 

3  Minerals  and  Mineral  Localities  of  North  Carolina,  p.  54,  1881. 

4  Am.  J.  Sci.  I.,  Vol.  43,  p.  366,  July,  1842. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


101 


will  soon  be  reported.  It  has  been  found  in  magnificent  crys- 
tals at  Villa  Rica,  Brazil,  S.  A.,  but  it  is  of  extremely  rare  occur- 
rence, is  highly  cleavable,  and  is  scarcely  known  except  to 
mineralogists. 

The  peridot  of  the  jeweler,  which  is  the  chrysolite  or  olivine 
of  the  mineralogist,  is  found  in  abundance  and  of  a  good  quality, 
in  the  form  of  small,  olive-green,  pitted  grains  or  pebbles  associ- 
ated with  garnet,  in  the  sands  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico. 
Locally  they  are  called  Job's  tears  on  account  of  their  pitted  ap- 
pearance. This  material  affords  smaller  gems  than  those  coming 
from  the  Levant,  and  as  the  demand  seems  to  be  for  the  large 
peridots  of  the  richer  olive-green  color,  which  is  not  possessed  by 
those  from  the  United  States,  only  a  small  number  of  the  peri- 

PHENACITE 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION  AND  PROPERTIES. 

Theoretical 
Composition. 

LOCALITY. 
Topaz  Butte, 
Florissant,  Col. 
Analyst,  Sperry.1 

LOCALITY. 
Topaz  Butte, 
Florissant,  Col. 
Analyst,  Penfield.* 

Silica  

54' 
45' 

25 
75 

54-46 

45'57 

0'2I 

Trace 
0-26 

Clear  —  Colorless. 

2-966-2-957 

54-42 
45-60 

Beryllia  

Soda  

Lithia  

Water  

Clear—  Colorless. 
2-966-2-957 

Color  

Specific  Gravity  

>,  J  S.  L.  Penfield  and  E.  S.  Sperry,  Am.  J.  Sci.,  Nov.,  1888,  p.  320. 

dots  found  in  the  West  have  been  cut  into  gems.  Many  of  the 
so-called  "  emeralds "  in  European  church  treasuries,  notably 
those  of  the  "  Three  Magi  "  in  the  Cathedral  of  Cologne,  are 
peridots  and  not  emeralds,  but  the  locality  whence  they  were 
taken  is  now  unknown.  All  the  peridots  that  are  sold  in  modern 
times  are  taken  out  of  jewelry  which  is  often  two  centuries  old. 
The  chrysolite  of  the  French  jewelers  is  chrysoberyl.  From  the 
meteoric  iron  that  was  found  on  Glorietta  Mountain,  Santa  Fe 
County,  N.  M.,  in  1885,  the  writer1  obtained  some  peridots  of 
i  carat  in  weight,  that  were  transparent  and  yellowish-green  in 
color.  The  meteorite  that  was  found  on  Glorietta  Mountain, 
Santa  Fe  County,  N.  M.,  and  the  one  found  at  Eagle  Station, 
Carroll  County,  Ky.,  is  believed  to  be  identical  with  the  piece, 

'  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  32,  p.  311,  Oct.,  1886. 


1 02 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


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LOCALITY. 

Meteorite  from  Carroll  Co.,  Kj 

Meteorite  from  Little  Miami  V'll 
Waterville,  N.  H  

Webster,  Jackson  Co.,  N.  C.  .. 

Webster,  N.  C  

Webster,  N.  C  
Thetford,  Vt  
Webster,  N.  C  
Elliott,  Ky  

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COLOR. 

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Pale  grayish  green. 

Y'll'wish  olive  gr'n. 

Y'll'wish  olive  gr'n. 

UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  1 03 

now  in  the  meteorite  collection  at  Harvard  University,  that  was 
found  on  the  altar  of  one  of  the  Altar  Mounds  in  the  Little  Miami 
Valley,  Ohio,  by  Prof.  Frederick  W.  Putnam.  Both  of  these 
meteorites  contained  clear  crystals  of  olivine  that  would  cut  into 
gems  of  over  i  carat  each,  so  that  these  may  be  truly  called  "  ce- 
lestial precious  stones." 

The  gem  stone  called  zircon  is  sometimes  known  as  jargon 
or  jargoon,  jacinth  or  the  true  hyacinth.  Its  hardness  is  about 
7*5,  and  its  specific  gravity  is  generally  47,  although  it  is  vari- 
able, ranging  from  4*1  to  4*9.  It  is  a  silicate  of  zirconium,  con- 
taining zirconium  oxide  sixty-seven  parts,  and  silica  thirty-three 
parts.  It  has  a  large  range  of  color  owing  to  its  high  dispersive 
power,  and  exhibits  more  "  fire"  than  any  other  known  gem  ex- 
cept the  diamond.  The  finest  gem  stones  come  from  Ceylon,  Mud- 
gee,  and  New  South  Wales.  Those  from  Expailly  in  Auvergne, 
France,  are  exceedingly  small  and  are  of  true  hyacinth  color. 

Zircon  has  not  often  been  found  in  the  United  States  in 
pieces  sufficiently  clear  to  warrant  cutting.  Some  very  small 
crystals  of  good  color  have  been  found  in  Burke  County,  N.  C., 
and  the  terminations  of  the  zircons  from  St.  Lawrence  County, 
N.  Y.,  might  be  cut  into  very  small  gems  of  i  carat  or  less  in 
weight.  Near  the  Pike's  Peak  toll-road,  almost  due  west  from 
the  Cheyenne  Mountains,  following  a  vein-like  mass  of  white 
quartz  in  granite,  is  found  a  very  interesting  form  of  zircon. 
The  crystals  are  either  in  the  quartz  or  in  a  soft  yellow  material, 
and  are  generally  a  deep  reddish-brown,  pink,  or  pale  honey-yel- 
low, and  T.  Whitman  Cross  mentions  a  few  small  crystals  of  deep 
emerald-green  color.  The  crystals  are  all  pyramidal,  having  very 
little,  or  no  prism.  The  largest  observed  were  about  £  inch, 
but  generally  they  are  not  more  than  yV  to  1  inch  in  length, 
and  would  only  cut  into  minute  gems.  As  crystals,  however, 
these  are  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  known,  owing  to  their 
transparency,  brilliancy,  and  perfection.1  Some  white  and  color- 
less crystals  sent  from  this  locality  were  found  to  be  the  result 
of  heating,  which  destroyed  the  natural  color.  Ceylon  zircons 
treated  in  this  way  were  formerly  used  for  incrusting  watches, 
which  were  then  sold  as  diamond-incrusted,  so  greatly  did  this 

'Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  24,  p.  285,  Oct.,  1882. 


IO4  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

variety  resemble  the  diamond.  An  opaque  variety  of  zircon 
is  found  in  several  localities  in  the  Pike's  Peak  District, 
in  one  instance  associated  with  amazonstone,  and  in  another 
with  astrophyllite,  also  with  flesh-colored  microline.  No  mate- 
rial that  would  cut  into  gems  has  been  found  at  any  of  these 
localities.  In  North  Carolina  zircon  is  abundant  in  the  gold 
sands  of  Polk,  Burke,  McDowell,  Rutherford,  and  Caldwell 
Counties,  in  nearly  all  the  colors  peculiar  to  Ceylon — yellowish- 
brown,  brownish-white,  amethystine,  pink,  and  blue.  The  crys- 
tals are  beautifully  modified,  but  too  minute  to  be  of  any  value. 
Brown  and  brownish-yellow  crystals,  very  perfect  in  form,  occur 
abundantly  in  Henderson  County,  N.  C.,  and  in  equal  abun- 
dance in  Anderson  County,  S.  C.  The  latter  are  readily  dis- 
tinguished from  the  North  Carolina  crystals,  as  they  are  generally 
larger,  often  an  inch  across,  and  the  prism  is  almost  always  very 
small,  the  crystal  frequently  being  made  up  of  the  two  pyramids 
only.  Fine  crystals  of  zircon  have  been  found  in  Lower  Saucon 
Township,  Northampton  County,  Pa.,  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
north  of  Bethlehem.  The  gravels  of  the  Delaware  and  Schuyl- 
kill  Rivers  contain  considerable  quantities  of  very  minute,  nearly 
colorless,  crystals  of  zircon.  Some  fine  ones,  over  an  inch  in 
length,  have  been  found  at  Litchfield,  Me.,  and  all  through  the 
cancrinite  and  sodalite  rocks  near  that  place.  In  the  Canfield 
Cabinet  at  Dover,  N.  J.,  there  are  some  of  the  finest  known  black 
zircon  crystals,  over  an  inch  long,  that  were  found  near  Frank- 
lin, N.  J.  Opaque  green  zircons  in  crystals  an  inch  long  and 
a  half-inch  across  have  been  found  by  C.  D.  Nimms  in  the 
town  of  Fine,  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.  They  were  remark- 
able mineralogical  specimens,  but  of  no  gem  value.  One  found 
by  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Penfield,  now  in  the  United  States  National 
Museum,  is  nearly  4  inches  long  and  doubly  terminated.  Dur- 
ing 1886,  the  demand  for  minerals  containing  the  rare  earths, 
zirconia,  thoria,  glucina,  etc.,  greatly  increased,  as  they  were 
then  wanted  to  furnish  the  mantles  or  hoods  of  incandescent  gas- 
burners.  This  demand  led  at  once  to  active  search  by  collect- 
ors and  mineral-dealers  in  England,  Germany,  France,  Russia, 
Norway,  and  Brazil,  and  especially  in  the  United  States.  So 
thorough  and  successful  has  this  search  been  that  many  minerals 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


105 


which  were  then  considered  rare  are  now  so  plentiful  that  they 
are  quoted  at  one-tenth  to  one-hundredth  of  their  former  prices. 
The  best  zircon  locality  in  North  Carolina  is  on  the  old  Mere- 
dith Freeman  Estate,  Green  River,  Henderson  County.  It  was 
leased  for  twenty-five  years  by  Gen.  Thomas  L.  Clingman  of 
that  State,  who,  as  early  as  1869,  mined  1,000  pounds  of  zircon, 
and  during  that  whole  period  never  lost  faith  in  the  incandescent 
properties  of  zirconia ;  but  when  these  were  proved  and  acknowl- 
edged, through  some  legal  difficulties  General  Clingman  had  for- 
feited his  leases,  and  hence  failed  to  reap  his  reward.  The 
Henderson  County,  N.  C.,  and  Anderson  County,  S.  C.,  zircon 

ZIRCON 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

.Theoretical 
Composition 

LOCALITY. 
Litchfield,  Me. 
Analyst. 
W.   Gibbs.i 

LOCALITY, 
Reading,  Pa. 
Analyst, 
C.  M.  Wetherell." 

LOCALITY, 
Buncombe  Co., 
N.  C. 
Analyst, 
C.  F.  Chandler.  3 

LOCALITY, 
El  Paso  Co.,  Col. 
Analyst, 
G.  A.  Koenig.* 

Silica  

•?TOO 

•K'2Q 

34'O7 

3T7O 

2Q'7O 

Zirconia  

67  'oo 

6v33 

6-5'  5O 

65'  30 

60-08 

Ferric  Oxide  

O'7Q 

2"O2 

O'67 

Q'2O 

Magnesia  

O"«3 

Water  

O'iCO 

O'AI 

Color  

Chocolate. 

Iron  Black. 

Specific  Gravity  .  .  . 



47 

4-595 

4-607 

4-538 

1  W.  Gibbs,  Ann.  der  Phys.  PogR.,  71,  559. 
a  C.  M.  Wetherill,  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  10,  346. 
Am.  J.  Sci.  II.,  15,  443. 


3  C.  F.  Chandler,  Am.  J.  Sci.  II.,  24,  131. 
«  G.   A.   Koenig,   Trans.   Am.   Phil.  Soc.  16,   518 
1877. 


is  found  in  large  quantities,  loose  in  the  soil,  as  the  result  of  the 
decomposition  of  a  feldspathic  rock.  The  crystals  are  generally 
remarkable  for  their  perfection,  are  distinct  in  each  locality,  and 
weigh  occasionally  several  ounces.  The  recent  demand  has  also 
brought  to  light  the  existence  of  enormous  quantities  of  zircon 
in  the  Ural  Mountains  and  in  Norway.  Though  very  large 
crystals,  some  weighing  1 5  pounds,  have  been  found  in  Canada 
(Renfrew  and  the  adjoining  counties),  they  are  so  isolated  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  obtain  a  supply  there.  The  new  demand 
has  brought  together  more  than  25  tons  of  zircon;  and  this  min- 
eral may  prove  of  considerable  value,  for  the  earth  it  contains 
can  be  used  as  a  refractory  material  for  crucibles  and  furnaces. 
As  new  processes  have  cheapened  and  made  available  aluminum 
and  magnesium,  so  zirconium  may  yet  be  called  into  use. 


tv*^  jxT" 

A*  ^  3*fe»> 

•foam 


kWl 


w 


CHAPTER    VII. 


The   Quartz  Group: — Rock   Crystal,   Transparent   Quartz,   Amethyst,   Smoky   Quartz, 

Cairngorm  Stone,  Gold  Quartz,  Rose  Quartz,  Novaculite,  Silicified  Coral, 

Quartzite,  Quartz  Inclusions,  Thetis  Hairstone,  Agate,  Jasper, 

Silicified    Wood,    Opal,    Hydrophane,   etc. 


^TT^HE 
w 

u: 
JL          „] 


quartz  group  consists  of  a  large  series  of  substances, 
which  to  the  eye  are  very  unlike  each  other,  and  pass 
under  a  great  variety  of  names,  but  they  are  all 
chemically  of  one  substance,  namely,  silica.  The  vari- 
ous colors  are  evidently  due  to  the  presence  of  metallic  oxides, 
principally  manganese  or  iron.  Quartz  may  be  divided  into  two 
groups,  crystalline  and  cryptocrystalline.  The  former  crystallizes 
in  the  rhombohedral  system,  generally  as  six-sided  prisms,  with  a 
hardness  of  7  and  a  specific  gravity  for  the  colorless  of  2^65,  the 
specific  gravity  of  cairngorm  and  the  amethyst  being  slightly 
higher. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  crystalline  varieties  : 

AMETHYST. — Deep  purple,  bluish  violet  fading  almost  into 
pink. 

ASTERIATED  STAR-QUARTZ. — Containing  between  layers  of 
the  crystals  a  deposition  of  substances,  so  that  when  cut  en  cabo- 
chon  across  the  prism  it  exhibits  asterism. 

AVENTURINE. — Transparent  to  opaque,  either  red  or  yellow, 
with  iridescent  spangles  of  mica  distributed  through  it. 

CAIRNGORM. — Transparent,  smoky  gray,  yellow,  yellowish 
brown,  and  brown. 


106 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES  IC»7 

CAT'S-EYE. — Translucent,  gray  or  greenish,  chatoyant  when 
cut  en  cabochon,  an  effect  due  to  fibres  of  asbestus  or  actin- 
olite. 

HYALINE. — Opalescent  white,  due  to  admixture  of  chalce- 
dony. 

MILK  QUARTZ. — Opalescent,  milky  white,  sometimes  yellow 
by  transmitted  light. 

MORION. — Deep  black,  almost  opaque. 

PRASE. — Translucent,  leek-green,  deep  green. 

ROCK  CRYSTAL. — Transparent  and  colorless. 

ROSE  QUARTZ. — Rose  red  or  pink,  sometimes  opalescent. 

SAPPHIRINE  QUARTZ  or  SIDERITE. — Translucent  and  grayish 
blue,  indigo,  and  Berlin  blue  color. 

SAGENITE. — Penetrated  with  acicular  crystals  of  other  mine- 
rals, generally  rutile,  tourmaline,  gothite,  stibnite,  asbestus,  acti- 
nolite,  hornblende,  epidote,  etc. 

SMOKY  QUARTZ. — Transparent,  and  various  shades  of  gray 
and  brown. 

FALSE  TOPAZ,  SCOTCH,  SAXON,  OR  SPANISH  TOPAZ. — Trans- 
parent yellow  or  light  brown,  generally  the  result  of  decoloriza- 
tion  by  heat. 

The  cryptocrystalline  varieties  are : 

AGATE  CHALCEDONY. — Jasper  or  rock  crystal,  mottled  or  in 
layers ;  when  irregular,  called  fortification  agate ;  when  banded, 
banded  agate. 

AGATE  JASPER. — A  variety  of  agate  containing  jasper. 

BASANITE,  LYDIAN  STONE,  OR  TOUCHSTONE. — A  velvet-black 
siliceous  stone,  or  flinty  jasper,  used  by  the  jewelers  for  trying 
the  purity  of  precious  metals. 

BEEKITE. — Silicified  corals,  shells,  or  limestones,  resembling 
chalcedony. 

BLOODSTONE. — Jasper,  translucent  to  opaque,  green  with  red 
spots. 

CHALCEDONY. — Clouded  or  translucent,  white,  yellow,  brown, 
or  blue. 

CHRYSOPRASE. — Translucent,  pale  bluish-green  or  yellow- 
green. 

CARNELIAN. — Translucent  like  horn,  yellow,  brown,  or  red. 


IO8  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

EGYPTIAN  JASPER. — Opaque,  concentric,  with  other  layers  of 
brown,  yellow,  or  black. 

HELIOTROPE. — With  base  of  chalcedony  colored  with  green 
delessite,  red  spots  of  iron  oxide. 

JASPER. — Impure,  opaque-colored  quartz,  red,  yellow,  brown, 
or  gray-blue,  called  ribbon  jasper  when  striped. 

ONYX. — Like  agate,  but  consisting  of  distinct,  even  layers, 
so  that  it  can  be  used  in  cutting  cameos. 

PLASMA. — Bright  green,  leaf-green,  and  almost  emerald-green, 
very  translucent. 

PORCELAIN  JASPER. — Different  from  true  jasper  in  being  vis- 
ible gray,  white,  and  pink. 

SARD. — Translucent,  red,  brownish  red,  crimson,  blue-red 
and  blackish  red,  golden  and  amber. 

SARD  ONYX. — Like  onyx,  but  having  a  stratum  or  several 
strata  of  sard. 

A  remarkable  mass  of  rock  crystal,  weighing  51  pounds, 
was  sent,  in  1886,  to  Tiffany  &  Co.,  New  York.  It  pur- 
ported to  be  from  Cave  City,  Va.,  but  as  it  subsequently 
proved  was  found  in  the  mountainous  part  of  Ash  County, 
N.  C.1  The  original  crystal,  which  must  have  weighed  300 
pounds,  was  unfortunately  broken  in  pieces  by  the  ignorant 
mountain  girl  who  found  it,  but  the  fragment  sent  to  New 
York  was  sufficiently  large  to  admit  of  being  cut  into  slabs 
8  inches  square  and  from  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  thick.  The 
original  crystal,  if  it  had  not  been  broken,  would  have  fur- 
nished an  almost  perfect  ball  4!  or  5  inches  in  diameter.  A 
visit  to  the  locality  by  the  author  showed  that  this  specimen 
had  been  found  near  Long  Shoal  Creek,  on  a  spur  of  Phcenix 
Mountain  in  Chestnut  Hill  Township.  There  have  also  been 
found  at  two  places,  600  feet  apart  (about  one  mile  from  the  for- 
mer locality),  two  crystals,  one  weighing  285  pounds,  that  was 
29  inches  long,  18  inches  wide,  13  inches  thick,  showing  one  pyra- 
midal termination  entirely  perfect  and  the  other  partly  so  ;  also 
another  specimen  that  weighed  188  pounds.  These  crystals 
were  all  found  in  decomposed  crystalline  rocks  consisting  of  a 

1  Proc.  Am.  Ass'n  Adv.  Sci.,  Vol.  35,  p.  229,  1886. 


UNITED   STATES,    CANADA   AND    MEXICO  1 09 

coarse  feldspathic  granite,  and  were  obtained  either  by  digging 
where  one  crystal  had  been  found,  or  by  driving  a  plough 
through  the  soil.  Altogether,  there  have  been  found  in  this 
vicinity  several  dozen  crystals,  weighing  from  20  to  300  pounds 
each,  and  future  working  will  undoubtedly  bring  more  to  light. 
These  large  crystals  are  often  very  irregular  and  pitted,  like 
many  of  the  crystals  of  quartz  from  St.  Gothard.  Of  those 
found,  the  most  irregular  was  20%  pounds  in  weight,  with  the 
entire  surface  rough  and  opaque  like  ground  glass,  and  almost 
spherical  in  form  but  perfectly  transparent.  In  a  few  instances, 
they  had  a  coating  of  rich,  green-colored  chlorite  that  penetrated 
to  the  depth  of  an  inch.  This  was  left  on  the  quartz,  and  it  gave 
the  cut  object,  after  polishing,  the  effect  of  a  pool  of  water  with 
green  moss  growing  on  the  bottom.  A  large  piece  weighing  1 1 
pounds,  brought  from  Alaska  in  1884,  originally  formed  a  part 
of  a  mass  that  must  have  weighed  44  pounds.  It  afforded  clear 
crystal  slabs  for  hand-glasses,  3  by  5  inches.  The  superiority  of 
this  mineral  over  glass  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  does  not,  like  glass, 
detract  from  the  rosiness  of  the  complexion,  as  is  well  shown  in 
the  fine  mirror  of  this  substance  in  the  green  vaults  at  Dresden, 
Saxony.  Transparent  crystallized  quartz  is  found  in  many  places 
in  the  United  States.  At  Lake  George,  in  Herkimer  County, 
and  throughout  the  adjacent  regions  in  New  York  State,  the  cal- 
ciferous  sandstone  contains  single  crystals,  and  at  times  large 
cavities  are  found  filled  with  doubly  terminated  crystals  often  of 
remarkable  perfection  and  brilliancy.  These  are  collected  in 
numbers,  and  both  natural  and  uncut  specimens  are  mounted  in 
jewelry  and  sold  to  tourists  under  the  name  of  "  Lake  George 
Diamonds."  Those  sold  in  large  cities  under  this  name  are,  in 
nearly  every  instance,  the  so-called  "paste,"  a  lead  glass  which 
has  more  brilliancy  and  fire  but  does  not  have  the  same  dur- 
ability as  the  quartz.  Of  the  Herkimer  crystals,  possibly  $1,000 
worth  are  sold  yearly.  On  account  of  their  remarkable  brilliancy 
and  perfect  crystallization,  rivaling  even  those  found  in  the  cav- 
ities of  the  Carrara  marble,  many  collections  of  them  have  been 
made,  notably  one  by  Rev.  Bogert  Walker,  formerly  of  Herki- 
mer, N.  Y.  There  are  collections  at  Middleville,  Little  Falls, 
and  Canajoharie,  and  very  fine  ones  in  the  State  Museum  at 


HO  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

Albany,  and  Smith  College  at  Northampton,  Mass.  These  nat- 
ural crystals  are  extensively  sold  along  the  railway,  a  two-ounce 
vial  containing  about  500  usually  costing  from  fifty  cents  to  $2. 
A  specimen  with  a  drop  enclosed  often  commands  from  fifty  cents 
to  $30,  and  a  single  fine  limpid  crystal  from  ten  cents  to  $25. 
Many  of  these  crystals  are  whiter  than  any  diamond  and  fre- 
quently as  brilliant  and  transparent.  They  are  often  so  small 
that  in  an  ounce  will  be  contained  over  7,500  crystals,  all  perfect 
and  doubly  terminated.  Curious  groupings  or  inclusions,  of 
great  beauty,  such  as  bitumen,  pearl  spar,  and  other  substances, 
are  eagerly  sought  for  by  collectors.  Many  fine  specimens  were 
obtained  at  Middleville,  Newport,  and  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  when 
the  West  Shore  Railroad  was  opened.  The  old  diggings  at  Lit- 
tle Falls  have  been  worked  so  extensively  from  time  to  time  that 
the  roadway  has  been  encroached  upon,  and  to  such  a  degree 
that  further  search  has  been  rendered  almost  impossible.  The 
mode  of  procedure  was  to  tap  the  rock  until  a  hollow  sound  indi- 
cated a  cavity,  and  within  these  cavities  the  crystals  were  found, 
sometimes  few  in  number,  sometimes  as  many  as  a  bushel.  At 
Diamond  Point  and  Diamond  Island,  Lake  George,  N.  Y.,  crys- 
tals occur  similar  to  those  found  in  Herkimer  County,  and  they 
have  been  extensively  sold  during  the  last  forty  years.  At  Crys- 
tal Mountain,  Ark.,  and  in  the  region  around  Hot  Springs  for 
about  forty  miles,  large  veins  of  quartz  are  frequently  met  with 
in  a  red  sandstone.  The  exact  geological  horizon  of  the  Arkan- 
sas quartz  has  not  yet  been  accurately  defined.  The  crystals  are 
common  in  the  millstone  grit  and  in  the  underlying  rock,  occa- 
sionally the  lower  strata  and  also  the  millstone  grit  coming 
through  the  beds  anywhere  between  the  layer  of  carboniferous 
and  the  Cambrian.  In  some  cases,  detached  crystals  are  found 
in  beds  of  sandstone  or  quartzite,  and  again  in  quartz  veins  that 
traverse  both  the  layers  of  the  carboniferous  and  the  underlying 
beds.  They  are  often  found  in  cavern-like  openings,  in  one  of 
which,  a  cavity  30  feet  long  and  6  feet  high,  were  found  several 
tons  of  crystals,  the  sides  of  the  cavity  being  completely  cov- 
ered with  them.  (See  Illustration.)  Wagon-loads  of  these 
crystals  are  taken  to  Hot  Springs  and  Little  Rock  by  the 
farmers,  who  often  do  considerable  blasting  to  secure  them,  and 


TRANSPARENT    QUARTZ 

FROM    CRYSTAL   MOUNTAIN,  GARLAND    COUNTY,    ARK. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  III 

who  search  for  them  when  their  crops  do  not  need  attention. 
They  are  sold  by  the  local  dealers,  principally  as  mementoes. 
Probably  a  hundred  wagon-loads  have  been  bought  by  visitors  at 
these  and  other  resorts. 

Usually  only  half  of  the  crystal  is  clear,  and  a  clear  space 
over  two  inches  square  is  quite  uncommon.  The  sale  of  uncut 
crystals  from  this  region  amounts  to  fully  $10,000  per  annum.  At 
Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  clear  rolled  pebbles,  that  are  found  on  the 
banks  of  the  Washita  River,  are  often  sold  and  are  more  highly 
prized  than  the  crystals,  because  of  the  mistaken  belief  that  they 
will  cut  into  clearer  gems.  The  great  demand  for  these  pebbles, 
which  are  scarce,  has  so  excited  the  cupidity  of  some  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  vicinity  that  they  have  learned  to  produce  rolled 
pebbles  by  putting  numbers  of  the  crystals  in  a  box,  which  is 
kept  revolving  for  a  few  days  by  water-power.  Any  expert,  how- 
ever, can  discern  the  difference,  since  the  artificial  ones  are  a  lit- 
tle whiter  on  the  surface.  Many  localities  in  Colorado  yield  fine 
specimens  of  quartz,  and  all  along  the  Atlantic  coast  at  Long 
Branch,  Atlantic  City,  Cape  May,  and  other  places,  transparent 
pebbles  are  found  in  the  sand,  and  are  much  sought  after  by  visi- 
tors, who  often  have  them  cut  as  souvenirs.  At  Narragansett 
Pier,  R.  I.,  some  of  the  local  lapidaries  have  been  known  to  sub- 
stitute for  pebbles  found  on  the  beach,  foreign  cut  quartz,  cairn- 
gorm, topaz,  crocidolite,  moonstone  from  Ceylon,  and  even  glass. 
At  all  of  these  resorts  large  quantities  of  the  quartz  pebbles  are 
cut  in  gems  and  seals,  and  all  manner  of  ornaments  are  sold  as 
having  been  found  in  the  vicinity.  Sometimes  even  the  stones 
that  have  been  found  by  the  visitors,  and  intrusted  to  lapidaries 
to  be  cut,  are  exchanged  for  cut  stones,  brought  to  this  country 
from  Bohemia,  Oldenburg,  and  the  Jura,  where  cutting  is  done  on 
such  a  large  scale  and  by  labor  so  poorly  paid  that  the  cut  stones 
can  be  delivered  in  this  country  at  one-tenth  of  the  price  of  cut- 
ting here,  as  the  rock  crystal  in  the  articles  themselves  has  but 
little  value.  The  annual  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  cut  stones  and  the 
money  expended  in  cutting  them  at  these  different  localities  may 
amount  to  $20,000  or  more  a  year,  and  the  sale  of  specimens  to  as 
much  more.  The  clear  crystal  used  in  the  United  States  for  optical 
purposes  is  almost  entirely  Brazilian,  not  on  account  of  any  defici- 


112  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

ency  in  the  quality  of  that  found  in  this  country,  but  because  of 
the  cheapness  of  the  Brazilian  crystal.  Cut  spectacle-glasses  can 
be  imported  for  less  than  the  cutting  costs  here.  Some  of  the 
most  magnificent  groups  of  quartz  ever  found  were  formerly  ob- 
tained at  the  Ellenville  Lead  Mines,  Ulster  County,  N  Y.,  and 
some  of  the  finest  of  these,  by  gift  of  Jackson  Steward,  are  now 
in  the  Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York  City.  Few,  if 
any,  were  cut  into  gems  or  used  in  the  arts,  although  many  were 
sold  in  the  vicinity  as  souvenirs.  The  Sterling  Mine  at  Antwerp, 
N.  Y.,  furnishes  small,  fine,  doubly  terminated  dodecahedral 
crystals,  and  the  same  forms,  with  some  slight  differences,  are 
found  in  the  specular  iron  at  Fowler,  Hermon,  and  Edwards,  St. 
Lawrence  County.  Diamond  Hill,  Lansingburgh,  N.  Y.,  is  an 
old  but  poor  locality,  and  Diamond  Island,  Portland  Harbor,  Me., 
is  well  known  for  the  small  but  bright  crystals  found  there.  The 
highly  modified  crystals  from  Diamond  Hill  and  Cumberland 
Hill,  R.  I.,  also  the  fine  ones  from  White  Plains,  in  Surrey 
County,  N.  C,  and  Stony  Point,  Alexander  County,  and  from 
Catawba  and  Burke  Counties,  N.  C.,  are  worthy  of  mention  as 
having  formed  the  subject  of  the  crystallographic  memoirs  by 
Dr.  Gerhard  von  Rath.1  Prof.  Frederick  A.  Genth  mentions 
the  finding  of  fine  specimens  in  Delaware  and  Chester  Counties, 
Pa.,  especially  in  East  Bradford  and  Pocopson  Townships. 
Rock  crystal  seems  to  have  been  valued  by  the  Indians  of  the 
American  continent.  Dr.  Daniel  G.  Britton,  in  a  paper  on  the 
folk  lore  of  Yucatan,  quoting  Garcia,  says  that  the  natives  prac- 
tised witchcraft  and  sorcery,  their  wise  men  divining  by  means  of 
a  rock  crystal,  which  was  believed  to  exert  great  influence  over 
the  crops.  The  presence  of  crystals  with  abraded  edges  in  the 
mounds  of  Arkansas,  North  Carolina,  and  elsewhere,  would  lead 
to  the  inference  that  they  were  not  only  collected  to  bury  with 
the  dead,  but  were  worn  as  charms  and  talismans,  and  having 
been  used  for  such  purposes,  were  probably  interred  with  the 
dead  as  their  property.  Personal  observation  in  Garland  and 
Montgomery  Counties,  Ark.,  forty  miles  from  the  Crystal  Moun- 
tain locality,  showed  that  these  quartz  crystals  were  found  in 
mounds,  with  a  quantity  of  some  of  the  smallest,  finely-chipped 

1  See  Naturwissenschaftlichen  Verein,  Westphalia. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  113 

arrow-points  of  chalcedony,  yet  not  a  single  object  made  of 
chipped  crystal  was  found.  In  a  number  of  the  mounds  leveled 
by  the  farmers  in  cultivating,  and  not  examined  systematically, 
single  crystals  of  quartz  were  revealed,  which  may,  however, 
have  been  kept  for  their  beauty  and  symmetry  by  the  Indians. 
The  report  of  the  finding  at  Bakersville,  N.  C.,  of  transparent 
crystals  of  quartz,  weighing  642  pounds  and  340  pounds  respec- 
tively, was  premature,  what  was  found  proving  to  be,  not  crys- 
tals, but  veins  of  translucent  quartzite,  with  the  crystalline  mark- 
ings of  a  group  rather  than  of  a  single  crystal.  The  clear  spaces, 
which  were  to  be  observed  only  on  these  crystalline  sides,  would 
hardly  afford  material  for  a  crystal  ball  an  inch  in  diameter,  and 
with  this  exception  they  were  almost  an  opaque  white,  with  flaws. 
Specimens  of  rutilated  quartz  and  of  rock  crystal,  one  mass  of 
which  weighed  over  10  pounds,  and  was  quite  clear,  though  frac- 
tured by  frosts,  were  found  near  Stuart,  Va.  Near  Trinidad, 
Col.,  there  have  been  found  large  quantities  of  crystalline 
quartz,  with  small,  doubly  terminated  crystals,  resembling  those 
from  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y.  Some  of  these  crystals  afford 
larger  masses  of  clear  rock  crystal  than  have  ever  before  been 
found  in  the  United  States,  and  suggest  its  use  for  art  objects, 
such  as  the  crystal  balls,  clock-cases,  mirrors,  etc.,  which  are 
now  to  be  seen  in  the  Austrian  Treasury  at  Vienna.  In  Alexan- 
der and  Burke  Counties,  N.  C.,  crystals  of  white  as  well  as  of 
smoky  quartz  have  been  found,  in  which  were  spaces  that  would 
cut  into  clear  crystal  balls  of  from  2  to  2^  inches.  One  of  these 
from  Alexander  County,  measuring  2T\  inches,  is  in  the  State 
Museum  of  Natural  History  at  Albany,  N.  Y.  A  very  inter- 
esting bead  made  of  rock  crystal,  fluted  and  drilled  from  both 
ends,  is  in  the  collection  of  A.  E.  Douglas,  in  New  York  City. 
It  is  evidently  native  work,  as  it  is  improbable  that  foreign 
traders  would  use  white  rock  crystal  beads,  when  glass  would 
answer  the  purpose  as  well. 

Amethyst  is  found  on  Deer  Hill,  at  Stow,  Me.,  where  there 
is  a  vein  of  amethystine  quartz  which  has  been  traced  fully  one- 
quarter  of  a  mile,  and  has  furnished  many  thousands  of  crystals 
during  the  last  twenty  years,  scarcely  any  of  them,  however, 
being  of  any  gem  value ;  but  among  some  amethysts  found  dur- 


114  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

ing  1885  was  one  remarkable  mass  that  yielded  a  gem  weighing 
25  carats,  of  the  deep  purple  color  of  the  Siberian  amethyst. 
(See  Colored  Plate  No.  6.)  Some  fine  amethysts  have  been 
found  at  Mount  Crawford,  Surry,  Waterville,  and  Westmore- 
land, N.  H.  At  Burrillville,  and  at  Bristol,  on  Mount  Hope 
Bay,  R.  I.,  fine  amethysts  were  found,  and  used  as  ornaments, 
over  sixty  years  ago.  J.  Adams  says1  that  some  were  taken 
from  a  quartz  vein  in  a  coarse  granite,  and  others  were  found  in 
the  sand  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  at  low  tide.  An  amethyst  nearly 
equal  in  color  to  the  finest  Siberian,  and  that  would  afford  a  gem 
nearly  |  inch  across,  was  found  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Roaring 
Brook,  near  Cheshire,  Conn.  When  the  West  Shore  Railroad 
tunnel  at  Weehawken,  N.  J.,  was  being  blasted  out,  there  were 
found  a  few  very  fair  specimens  of  amethyst  on  the  trap  rock. 
The  finest  one  of  these  is  in  the  State  Museum  at  Albany,  N.  Y. 
Professor  Genth "  mentions  magnificent  specimens  from  Delaware 
and  Chester  Counties,  Pa.  Some  of  the  principal  localities  are 
the  townships  of  East  Bradford,  Pocopson,  Birmingham,  Charles- 
town  (where  about  a  quart  of  loose  crystals  was  obtained),  and 
Newlin  (where  about  100  pounds  have  been  found,  but  none  of 
it  of  gem  value).  W.  W.  Jefferies8  announced  that  amethysts  of 
a  rich  purple  color  had  been  found  in  the  northern  part  of  New- 
lin Township.  Crystals,  of  fine  quality,  though  not  affording 
gem  material,  one  weighing  7  pounds,  have  been  found  in 
Upper  Providence.  Amethysts  of  large  size,  and  with  very 
perfect  single  crystals,  well  adapted  for  cutting,  were  found 
here  in  a  vein  of  oxide  of  manganese  and  solid  walls  of  sand- 
stone, quartz,  and  quartzite,  often  extending  to  a  depth  of  over 
25  feet.  The  finest,  perhaps,  of  the  crystals  of  this  locality,  was 
found  in  November,  1887.  (See  Colored  Plate  No.  6.)  In  these 
gems  the  purple  coloring  is  unevenly  distributed  in  the  crystals, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Siberian  amethysts,  both  of  which,  when 
properly  cut,  disseminate  the  color  in  an  unevenly  tinted  ame- 
thyst, making  a  rich  royal  purple  tint  equal  to  that  of  any  known 
gem.  As  a  precious  stone  the  large  crystal  has  little  value,  but 

'Am.  J.  Sci.  I.,  Vol.  8,  p.  199,  Aug.,  1824. 

9  Preliminary  Report  on  the  Mineralogy  of  Pennsylvania,  p.  57. 

3  Proc.  Acad.  of  Nat.  Sci.,  Phil.,  Mineralogical  Section,  p.  44. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  I  1 5 

as  a  crystal  it  is  quite  unique.  Amethysts  have  also  been  found 
in  Astor,  Concord,  Marple,  and  Middletown  Townships.  In 
Birmingham,  in  one  locality,  they  are  found  in  clusters;  in 
another,  in  fine  isolated  crystals.  At  Chester  and  Thornbury, 
Delaware  County,  Pa.,  also,  many  fine  gems  have  been  found  by 
collectors.  Perhaps  the  most  unique  gem  of  the  collection  of  the 
United  States  National  Museum  at  Washington  is  a  piece  of  an 
amethyst  found  at  Webster,  N.  C.,  and  deposited  by  Dr.  H.  S. 
Lucas.  The  present  form  is  just  such  as  would  be  made  by  a 
lapidary  in  roughly  shaping  a  stone,  preliminary  to  cutting  and 
polishing  it.  It  was  turtle-shaped  when  found,  which  shape  was 
unfortunately  destroyed  by  chipping,  and  was  said  to  have  borne 
marks  of  the  handiwork  of  prehistoric  man.  It  now  measures 
3!  inches  (7  centimetres)  in  length,  2f  inches  (6  centimetres) 
in  width,  i£  inches  (4  centimetres)  in  thickness,  and  weighs  4! 
ounces  (135*5  grams).  It  is  perfectly  transparent,  slightly  smoky, 
and  pale  at  one  end,  and  also  has  a  smoky  streak  in  the  center. 
This  coloring  is  peculiar  to  the  amethyst,  however.  In  Hay  wood 
County,  N.  C.,  were  found  quite  a  number  of  crystals  of  ame- 
thyst which  were  cut  into  very  fine  gems.  Amethysts  of  a  light 
purple  and  sometimes  of  a  pink  color  are  found  in  abundance, 
in  crystals  3  inches  long  and  over,  at  Clayton,  Rabun  County, 
Ga.  At  times  these  have  large  liquid  cavities  containing  movable 
bubbles  of  gas.  They  are  of  little  gem  value,  although  fine  as 
specimens.  At  the  Lake  Superior  watering-places  there  are  sold 
many  fine  groups  of  amethyst  from  Prince  Arthur's  Landing, 
Lake  Superior.  These  groups  are  generally  composed  of  crys- 
tals from  i  inch  to  5  inches  in  size,  the  groups  ranging  from  a 
few  inches  to  several  feet.  Lake  Superior  crystals  have  one  pe- 
culiarity :  they  are  spotted  with  the  red,  moss-like  markings  so 
well  known,  giving  the  moss  amethyst  effect  if  cut,  though  as  a 
rule  the  coating  is  so  even  as  to  cover  the  entire  surface,  noth- 
ing but  a  brick-red  color  being  visible  unless  the  crystals  are 
broken.  Notwithstanding  its  abundance,  but  few  gems  could  be 
cut  from  the  mineral  in  this  locality.  Hoffmann  mentions  the 
finding  of  amethyst  on  the  mesa  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Vir- 
gin, Nev.  In  Llano  and  Burnet  Counties,  Tex.,  some  very  fair 
amethysts  have  been  found ;  and  also  at  Grand  Rapids,  Wood 


Il6  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

County,  Wis.,  in  the  amygdaloid  on  the  Lake  Superior  shore, 
and  in  trap  rock  at  Keweenaw  Point  and  elsewhere  in 
the  upper  peninsula.  At  Amethyst  Mountain,  in  the  Yellow- 
stone National  Park,  and  at  Holbrook,  Ariz.,  amethyst  varying 
in  color  from  light  pink  to  dark  purple  lines  the  hollow  trunks 
of  agatized  trees,  and  forms  a  beautiful  contrast  with  the  pale 
chalcedony  and  banded  agate  sides  of  the  tree-trunks.  It  is  also 
found  in  small  crystals  at  Nevada  and  neighboring  localities  on 
Bear  Creek,  and  on  the  summit  of  the  range  east  of  the  Animas, 
Col. 

Smoky  quartz,  also  known  as  smoky  topaz  or  cairngorm, 
and  citrine  are  found  in  large  quantities  at  and  near  Pike's  Peak, 
Col. ;  also,  to  some  extent,  at  Mount  Anteros  Summit,  Col., 
Magnet  Cove,  Ark.,  Burke  and  Alexander  Counties,  N.  C.,  and 
at  other  points.  At  Pike's  Peak,  Col.,  it  occurs  in  pockets  in  a 
coarse,  plegmatic  granite,  often  associated  with  beautiful  crystals 
of  amazonstone  and  flesh-colored  and  other  feldspars.  The  larg- 
est crystal  that  has  as  yet  been  found,  measuring  over  4  feet  in 
length,  is  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Marquis  of  Ailsa.  A  doubly  ter- 
minated crystal  13  inches  long  and  over  5  inches  in  diameter, 
which  would  furnish  a  5-inch  ball,  is  in  the  Kunz  Collection  in 
the  State  Museum  at  Albany,  N.  Y.  The  Pike's  Peak  material 
is  sent  abroad  in  large  quantities  to  be  cut,  and  the  larger  part  is 
returned  to  be  sold  in  tourists'  jewelry,  principally  at  Denver  and 
Colorado  Springs,  Col.,  Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  and  in  other  Western 
cities  and  summer  resorts.  The  sum  realized  from  the  cut  mate- 
rial amounts  to  about  $7,500  annually,  and  that  from  the  crystals 
sold  to  $2,500  more.  Most  of  the  cut  articles  of  smoky  quartz 
sold  at  the  tourist  resorts  are  of  foreign  material,  or  of  material 
found  in  the  United  States  and  cut  abroad.  Smoky  quartz  peb- 
bles are  occasionally  found  along  the  coast  of  Long  Branch,  Cape 
May,  and  cut  as  souvenirs.  Crystals  of  smoky  quartz,  a  foot  in 
length,  are  frequently  found  at  Sterling,  Mont.  Of  these,  a  re- 
markably fine  specimen  was  presented  by  J.  E.  Davis  to  the  cab- 
inet of  the  California  State  Mining  Bureau,  in  San  Francisco. 
The  quartz  of  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y.,  and  Diamond  Island 
and  Diamond  Point,  Lake  George,  are  occasionally  found  in  a 
variety  of  beautiful  smoky  tints  which  are  exceptionally  trans- 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  II/ 

parent.  Fine  smoky  quartz  has  been  found  atGoshen,  Mass.  In 
1884,  a  fine,  clear  mass,  weighing  over  6  pounds,  with  clear  spaces 
several  inches  across,  was  found  on  Blueberry  Hill,  Stoneham, 
Me.,  and  a  broken  crystal  that  weighed  over  100  pounds  and  a 
crystal  over  4  inches  long  and  2  across,  very  clear  in  parts,  were 
found  near  Mount  Pleasant,  Oxford  County,  Me.,  and  a  fine  crystal 
at  Minot,  Me.  Professor  Genth1  mentioned  the  occurrence  of 
smoky  quartz  near  Philadelphia ;  on  the  Schuylkill,  near  Reading, 
Berks  County ;  near  Hummelstown,  Dauphin  County ;  in  Upper 
Darby,  near  Garret's  road  toll-gate,  and  near  the  Kellyville  school- 
house,  all  in  Delaware  County ;  at  the  tunnel  near  Phcenixville, 
in  East  Nottingham  and  Birmingham  Townships,  Chester  County. 
In  certain  parts  of  Delaware  and  Chester  Counties  the  amethyst 
and  smoky  quartz  gradually  shade  into  each  other,  a  character- 
istic peculiar  also  to  many  specimens  from  North  Carolina.  Some 
fine  crystals  have  been  found  at  Iron  Mountain,  Mo.,  and  Mag- 
net Cove,  Ark.  Citrine  is  mentioned  by  Hoffmann8  as  occur- 
ring at  Tuscarora,  Gold  Mountain,  and  in  Palmetto  Can1  on, 
Nev.  At  Taylorsville  and  Stony  Point,  N.  C.,a  number  of  clear 
pieces  of  this  material  were  found  that  cut  fair  stones  weighing 
over  an  ounce  each.  In  Alexander,  Burke,  Catawba,  and  adja- 
cent counties,  N.  C.,  smoky  quartz  crystals  which  would  afford  fine 
gems  are  frequently  met  with.  They  are  generally  from  i  to  5 
inches  in  diameter,  and  often  of  a  citron  or  light  yellow  color. 

When  clear,  compact,  white  quartz  contains  veins,  or  streaks, 
or  spots  of  fine  gold,  it  is  worked  into  jewelry  and  souvenirs  on 
a  considerable  scale  in  San  Francisco,  and  to  a  less  extent  in 
many  of  the  large  towns  in  the  mining  regions.  Some  of  the 
mines  in  California,  Oregon,  Idaho,  and  Montana  have  furnished 
very  fine  specimens,  especially  when  the  quartz  is  clear  and  the 
gold  penetrates  in  compact  stringers.  Gold  miners,  however, 
often  have  a  prejudice  against  what  are  known  as  "  specimen 
mines,"  that  is,  mines  furnishing  ore  of  this  kind.  The  gold 
found  in  California  quartz  is  worth  about  $16.50  an  ounce,  but 
jewelers  willingly  give  from  $20  to  $30  for  each  ounce  of  gold 
contained  in  material  that  they  can  use.  The  price  of  specimens 

1  Preliminary  Report  on  the  Mineralogy  of  Pennsylvania,  p.  58. 

2  Mineralogy  of  Nevada. 


Il8  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

is  governed  by  their  beauty,  varying  from  $3  to  $40  per  ounce 
of  quartz.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  mineral  is  first  taken, 
after  which  the  gold  value  of  the  quartz  is  ascertained  by  Price's 
table.  The  amount  of  this  material  sold  in  the  rough  for  jewelers' 
purposes  is  variously  estimated  at  from  $40,000  to  $50,000  a 
year,  $1,000  to  $2,000  worth  being  often  purchased  at  one  time. 
One  lapidary  at  Oakland,  Cal,  where  most  of  the  cutting  of  this 
material  is  done,  bought  nearly  $10,000  worth  within  a  year,  and 
a  large  jewelry  firm  in  San  Francisco,  during  the  same  time,  pur- 
chased nearly  $15,000  worth.  In  the  selection  of  the  quartz, 
great  care  is  necessary.  The  stone  'used  must  be  large  enough 
to  bear  the  rough  treatment  of  the  diamond-saw  and  the  lap- 
wheel  of  the  polisher.  All  of  the  rock  quartz  is  friable,  and 
some  of  it  crumbles  to  pieces  while  undergoing  these  processes. 
The  saw,  catching  in  the  gold  in  the  slitting,  prevents  the  cut- 
ting of  large  pieces,  as  the  wafer-like  slabs  are  apt  to  be  broken 
by  this  resistance  while  being  detached  from  the  mass.  For  this 
reason,  all  the  pieces  set  in  cabinet  work  are  small.  Pieces  4  by  2 
inches  are  quite  rare,  although  fine  pieces  4  inches  square  are 
at  times  seen.  Rarely  more  than  half  of  the  rough  material  pur- 
chased finds  its  way  into  the  market,  owing  to  breakage  while 
being  trimmed  into  shape.  The  white  gold  quartz  of  California 
is  mainly  supplied  from  the  counties  of  Butte,  Calaveras,  El 
Dorado,  Mariposa,  Nevada,  Placer,  Sierra,  Tuolumne,  and  Yuba. 
The  black  gold  quartz,  a  quite  recent  novelty,  is  found  at  the 
Sheep  Ranch  Mine,  Calaveras  County,  and  at  Sutter  Creek, 
Amador  County.  The  so-called  rose  gold  quartz  is  made  by 
backing  a  translucent  quartz  with  the  desired  shade  of  carmine 
paste,  and  forms  an  effective  contrast  to  the  opaque  white  and 
black  gold  quartz  with  which  it  is  usually  mounted.  Single 
specimens  for  scarf-pins,  rings,  and  sets  of  pins  and  ear-rings  sell 
from  $2  to  $10  each.  Exceptionally  fine  or  curious  pieces 
bring  higher  prices.  It  is  within  a  few  years  that  gold  quartz 
has  been  utilized  to  any  great  extent  in  jewelry.  At  first  the 
designs  were  usually  simple  and  the  mountings  modest,  but  the 
demand  has  created  a  supply  of  elaborate  designs,  and  at  present 
the  quartz  is  used  in  every  conceivable  form  of  jewelry,  and  in 
articles  of  personal  adornment  and  decoration  of  almost  unlimited 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  IIQ 

variety,  such  as  canes,  paper-weights,  writing-cases,  perfume- 
bottles,  fan-sticks,  bracelets,  watch-chains,  and  lace-pins,  the  lat- 
ter in  such  designs  as  shovels,  picks,  and  other  mining  emblems. 
In  certain  new  furniture,  it  has  been  used  as  paneling ;  and  here, 
as  in  jewelry,  the  effect  is  better  brought  out  by  added  colors, 
such  as  are  afforded  by  agate,  moss  agate,  native  silver  in  a 
matrix,  smoky  quartz,  iron  and  copper  pyrite,  cinnabar,  mala- 
chite, turquoise  in  the  matrix,  and  other  bright  minerals.  By 
slitting  and  piecing,  as  is  done  with  malachite,  an  entire  table- 
top  can  be  made  from  a  few  pounds  of  gold  quartz.  Much  of 
the  jewelry  made  of  this  material  is  sold  to  tourists  from  the 
Eastern  States  and  elsewhere.  Eleven  hundred  dollars  worth 
was  purchased,  some  years  ago,  by  an  Asiatic  embassy,  and 
scarcely  any  one  visiting  California  fails  to  secure  a  specimen. 
The  best  taste  is  not  often  exercised  in  the  designs  for  this  ma- 
terial. Many  are  too  large  and  ungainly  for  personal  adorn- 
ment, and  others  are  not  as  well  mounted  as  the  jewelry  sold 
with  them.  There  is  much  room  for  improvement  in  these  re- 
spects. One  of  the  large  designs  made  of  gold  quartz,  represent- 
ing the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  at  Paris,  is  valued  at  $20, coo. 
It  stands  about  a  foot  high,  and  is  perhaps  the  finest  piece  of 
gold  quartz  work  ever  produced.  A  mass  of  gold  quartz1 
weighing  160  pounds  was  taken  out  of  the  bank  of  the  Nevada 
Hydraulic  Company  at  Gibsonville,  Cal.  The  boulder  was 
smoothly  washed  and  had  the  appearance  of  having  been  ground 
in  a  pothole.  Its  estimated  value  was  $2,500,  but  its  real  worth 
was  more  than  this,  since  it  was  valuable  for  lapidary  purposes. 
The  gold  penetrating  amethystine  quartz  from  Hungary  is  very 
beautiful,  but  the  California  quartz  is  the  finest  known. 

Some  years  ago  a  method  was  devised  of  fusing  quartz,  by 
throwing  in  lumps  of  heavily  alloyed  gold,  and  allowing  the  ma- 
terial to  cool  in  molds  of  required  shapes.  It  was  said  that  the 
mingling  of  the  metal  and  the  quartz  was  complete,  but  the 
quartz  had  a  milky,  unnatural,  glasslike  appearance  entirely  un- 
like the  gold  quartz  it  was  intended  to  represent.  The  firm  of 
LeDuc,  Connor  &  Laine,  in  San  Francisco,  applied  for  a  patent 
for  an  imitation  gold  quartz  produced  by  means  of  electricity, 

1  Jewelers'  Circular,  Vol.  14,  p.  258,  Sept.,  1883. 


I2O  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

but  found  that  a  similar  patent  had  been  issued  nearly  fifty  years 
earlier  to  a  resident  of  New  York.  Though  thus  unable  to  ob- 
tain the  monopoly,  they  undertook  the  manufacture  of  jewelers' 
quartz,  but  the  venture  proved  so  unsatisfactory  that  they  soon 
abandoned  it. 

Prase  is  found,  always  crystallized,  at  various  limonite  de- 
posits on  Staten  Island,  N.  Y.  As  specimens  the  mineral  is  very 
good,  occurring  in  groups  of  crystals  often  8  to  10  inches  across, 
although  the  crystals  themselves  are  rarely  over  %  inch  long  and 
i  inch  in  diameter,  and  of  no  gem  value.  The  color  is  generally  a 
dark  leek-green.  William  P.  Blake  mentions  a  greenish-tinged 
quartz,  resembling  datolite  in  color,  from  the  French  lode, 
Eureka  District,  Cal.  Hoffmann,  in  the  "  Mineralogy  of  Neva- 
da," mentions  the  occurrence  of  prase  in  crystals  at  Reese  River, 
San  Antonio,  and  occasionally  on  the  mountains  near  Silver  Peak. 
A  translucent  leek-green  variety  of  chalcedony  and  quartz  occurs 
in  the  syenitic  range  of  the  Lehigh,  especially  at  the  allanite  lo- 
cality, five  miles  east  of  Bethlehem,  Pa.  Prase  is  found  at 
Blue  Mill,  Delaware  County,  in  doubly-terminated  crystals,  and 
in  curious  crossings  and  rosettes,  often  several  inches  across  ;  also 
in  inferior  specimens  near  Dismal  Run,  Delaware  County.  Very 
fine  specimens  of  massive  green  quartz  occur  in  Bucks  County ; 
in  Delaware  County  at  Radnor ;  and  in  East  Bradford  Township, 
Chester  County.  At  none  of  these  localities  is  it  of  any  value  as 
a  gem. 

Rose  quartz  occurs  in  large  masses  at  Albany  and  Paris, 
Me. ;  Southbury,  Conn.  ;  and  at  many  other  places  in  the  United 
States,  but  as  yet  it  has  not  been  used  in  the  arts  or  as  a  gem. 
At  Stow,  Albany,  Paris,  and  a  number  of  other  localities  in 
Maine,  the  veins  of  quartz  shade  from  white — transparent  and 
opalescent,  resembling  hyaline  quartz,  often  without  any  imper- 
fections— through  faintly  tinted  pink  and  salmon  into  a  rich  rose 
color,  thus  forming  a  beautiful  series  of  tints  for  gems  or  for 
ornamental  stone-work.  Specimens  of  this  rose  quartz,  when  cut 
into  double  cabochons,  or  sphere-shaped  objects,  distinctly  show 
the  asteria  effect,  similar  to  the  star  sapphire,  if  viewed  by  sun- 
light or  artificial  light,  a  peculiarity  which  has  also  been  observed 
in  specimens  obtained  from  a  number  of  other  localities.  Pos- 


122  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

being  produced  by  chloritic  inclusions.  When  a  crystal  was  cut 
between  the  lines  of  growth,  it  formed  an  interesting  ornamen- 
tal stone. 

Novaculite  is  a  fine,  compact,  sandstone-like  substance,  found 
in  large  pieces  at  Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  and  employed  to  a  limited 
extent  for  cutting  into  figures,  such  as  birds,  for  jewelry.  It  is  ex- 
tensively used  for  whetstones,  which  have  a  world-wide  reputation 
as  "Washita  whetstones."  Its  compactness  and  the  purity  of 
its  white  color  make  it  a  very  pretty  ornamental  stone  and  it 
ought  to  be  used  for  this  purpose. 

The  true  silicified  corals  found  at  Schoharie,  N.  Y.,  along 
the  Catskills,  and  in  many  other  localities  in  the  United  States, 
form  very  pretty  gem  stones.  Some  that  are  similar  to  the  so- 
called  fossil  palm-wood  from  India  have  been  observed  in  a 
few  localities  in  New  York  State.  One  very  interesting  black 
silicious  coral  form  with  large  white  markings  was  found  at  Cat- 
skill,  N.  Y. ;  when  cut  across  the  large  white  columnar  lines,  the 
effect  was  very  pleasing  and  ornamental. 

The  finest  chrysoprase  in  the  United  States  is  found  in  a 
vein  of  serpentine  in  the  nickel  mines  at  Nickel  Mount,  near  the 
town  of  Riddles,  Douglas  County,  Ore.  Here  it  occurs  in 
veins  over  an  inch  thick  in  the  nickel  ore,  and  would  furnish 
stones  of  a  rich  green  color  several  inches  square.  In  his  treatise 
on  quartz  and  opal,  Traill  mentions  chrysoprase  from  Newfane, 
Vt.,  but  Prof.  James  D.  Dana  identifies  this  mineral  as  green 
quartz  and  not  chrysoprase,  although  it  was  so-called  in  the  local- 
ity where  it  was  found.  A  fine  green-colored  variety  intermixed 
with  black  hornblende,  that  would  afford  gems  an  inch  across,  was 
found  in  Macon  County,  N.  C.  Thomas  Taber  mentions  '  in  a 
letter  to  Dr.  C.  A.  Lee  the  occurrence  of  chrysoprase  in  Chester 
County,  Pa.,  without  giving  any  description  of  its  quality,  though 
one  would  infer  that  it  was  of  gem  quality,  since  Mr.  Taber  was 
a  jeweler.  Dr.  Frederic  M.  Endlich  mentions  chrysoprase  as  of 
rare  occurrence  in  Middle  Park,  Col.  William  Irelan,  Jr.,  reports 
from  Tulare  County,  Cal,  beautiful  semi-transparent  chrysoprase 
of  fine  color,  and  Beck,  in  his  "  Mineralogy  of  New  York  "  (Al- 
bany, 1842),  describes  fine  specimens  of  chalcedony  and  chryso- 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.,  Vol.  38,  p.  61,  Oct.,  1839. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  123 

prase  from  Belmont's  Lead  Mine,  in  St.  Lawrence  County, 
N.  Y. 

The  compact  quartzite  of  Sioux  Falls,  So.  Dak.,  has  been 
quarried  and  polished  for  ornamental  purposes.  It  is  known  and 
sold  as  "  Sioux  Falls  Jasper,"  and  is  the  stone  referred  to  by 
Longfellow  in  his  "  Hiawatha"  as  being  used  for  arrow-heads, 
when  he  says : 

"  At  the  doorway  of  his  wigwam 
Sat  the  ancient  Arrow-maker ; 
In  the  land  of  the  Dacotahs, 
Making  arrow-heads  of  jasper, 
Arrow-heads  of  chalcedony." 

This  stone  is  susceptible  of  a  very  high  polish  and  is  found 
in  a  variety  of  pleasing  tints,  such  as  chocolate,  cinnamon,  brown- 
ish-red, brick-red,  peach-blow,  and  yellowish.  Polishing  works 
run  by  water-power  have  been  erected  at  Sioux  Falls,  So.  Dak., 
and  so  ingeniously  are  they  contrived  that  pillars,  pilasters,  man- 
tels, and  table-tops  are  now  made  here  as  cheaply  as  abroad. 
Probably  $30,000  worth  of  the  polished  material  was  sold  during 
the  year  of  1887.  The  pilasters  of  the  German  American  Bank 
and  the  columns  in  the  doorway  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
building,  in  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  are  of  this  beautiful  jasper.  It  is 
likely  to  become  one  of  our  choicest  ornamental  stones,  and  is 
especially  effective  in  combination  with  the  Minnesota  red  granite. 
Its  great  tensile  strength,  its  high,  almost  mirror-like  polish,  the 
facts  that  when  polished,  if  used  for  tiling,  the  stone  is  not 
slippery,  one  of  the  properties  that  quartz  possesses,  and  that 
large  pieces  can  be  quarried  out,  and  its  pleasing  variety  of 
colors,  all  combine  to  render  it  one  of  the  most  desirable  of  build- 
ing stones.  The  mills  are  of  sufficient  capacity  to  polish  $100,000 
worth  a  year.  In  view  of  the  unequaled  facility  with  which  it 
can  be  prepared  for  use,  it  could  be  employed  to  advantage  for 
tablets,  blocks,  columns,  tiles  for  fine  interior  and  monumental 
work,  and  in  the  more  artistic  branches  of  stone-work.  Some 
good  results  have  been  obtained  with  the  sand-blast  on  polished 
surfaces.  The  material  exists  in  almost  unlimited  quantities  ;  the 
quarries  already  opened  are  450  feet  long,  100  feet  wide,  and  60 
feet  deep  at  the  lowest  point.  More  than  i ,  200  carloads  were 
shipped  from  one  quarry  alone  during  the  year  of  1887,  and  the 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  125 

micular  chlorite  which  they  contain.  Another  piece,  which  was 
cut  from  this  specimen,  is  in  the  Silliman  Collection  at  Cornell 
University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y.  Beautiful  pieces  of  quartz  3  by  4 
inches,  and  fine  crystals  penetrated  by  clove-brown  and  black  ru- 
tile,  were  formerly  found  at  Middlesex,  Vt,  and  in  1848,  when 
the  cut  for  the  Central  Vermont  Railroad  was  made  through  a 
perpendicular  mass  of  talcose  slate,  at  Waterbury,  Vt,  a  vein  or 
pocket  of  quartz  was  found  containing  many  fine  crystals  of  ru- 
tilated  quartz.1  Rutilated  quartz  of  unexcelled  beauty,  the  rutile 
usually  brown,  red,  golden,  and  black,  has  been  found  in  many 
places  in  Randolph,  Catawba,  Burke,  Iredell,  and  Alexander 
Counties,  N.  C.,  and  in  1888,  crystals  of  quartz,  3  inches  in  length, 
and  filled  with  rutile  the  thickness  of  a  pin,  were  found  at  Stony 
Point.  Beautiful  series  of  these  are  in  the  collections  of  J.  W. 
Wilcox  and  Clarence  S.  Bement,  both  of  Philadelphia.  Fine 
pieces  of  quartz,  4  inches  square,  containing  acicular  rutile  of 
a  rich  red  color,  have  been  found  near  Amelia  Court  House,  Va. 
Some  fine  acicular  crystals  of  rutile  in  limpid  quartz,  now  in  the 
possession  of  Joseph  Wharton,  of  Philadelphia,  were  found  near 
Kinger's,  Lancaster  County,  Pa.  At  Calumet  Hill  Quarry, 
Cumberland,  R.  I.,  beautiful  specimens  of  limpid  milky  quartz 
from  2  to  6  inches  square,  and  also  quartz  crystals,  at  times 
f  inch  to  2  inches  long,  are  found  penetrated  by  crystals  of 
black  hornblende  varying  in  thickness  from  a  needle's  diameter 
to  about  tk  inch,  and  these  are  at  times  6  inches  long,  in- 
terlaced and  penetrating  the  quartz  in  every  direction,  making 
a  very  beautiful  gem  and  ornamental  stone.  Specimens  of  this 
character  are  preserved  by  the  quarrymen  to  sell  to  collectors. 
Several  hundred  pounds  of  this  material  were  sent  abroad  about 
1883  to  be  cut  into  jewelry  at  Idar  and  Oberstein,  but  as  work 
has  been  suspended  at  Calumet  Hill,  the  mineral  is  likely  to 
become  somewhat  scarce.  Cut  specimens  command  prices  rang- 
ing from  twenty-five  cents  to  $5  each.  The  specimens  found 
here  are  quite  equal  to  the  variety  found  in  Japan,  and  are  even 
better  adapted  for  use  in  jewelry  than  the  remarkable  trans- 
parent masses,  over  a  foot  across,  procured  from  Madagascar,  in 
which  the  crystals  of  hornblende  are  too  large. 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  I.,  Vol.  10,  p.  14,  July,  1850. 


126  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

Thetis'  hair  stone,  found  by  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson,  near 
Sneatch  Pond,  Cumberland,  R.  I.,  is  occasionally  met  with  in 
fair  pieces  and  is  used  to  a  very  limited  extent  in  jewelry.  It  is 
transparent  quartz,  so  completely  filled  with  acicular  crystals  of 
green  actinolite  as  to  make  it  quite  opaque.  Probably  $100 
worth  was  at  one  time  sold  annually  to  be  cut  into  seals 
and  charms.  Acicular  crystals  of  indicolite,  somewhat  re- 
sembling rutile  in  quartz,  filling  the  quartz  so  completely  as 
almost  to  render  it  opaque,  were  found  in  pieces  over  an  inch 
square  at  the  famous  tourmaline  locality,  near  Paris,  Me. 
The  mining  operations  at  Stony  Point,  N.  C.,  brought  to  light  a 
number  of  crystals  4  by  3  inches,  and  masses  of  quartz  6  by  3 
inches,  some  of  the  former  filled  with  what  appears  to  be  asbes- 
tus  or  byssolite,  forming  interesting  and  pretty  specimens  sus- 
ceptible of  being  cut  into  charms  and  other  objects.  The  inclos- 
ures  of  what  is  seemingly  gothite  in  red,  fan-shaped  crystals 
from  North  Carolina  is  also  a  beautiful  and  interesting  gem 
stone.  A  fine  limpid  crystal  of  quartz,  i  inch  long  and  f  inch 
in  diameter,  penetrated  to  the  depth  of  half  a  millimeter  by 
fine  green  crystals  of  actinolite,  is  reported  from  Virginia.  The 
so-called  Gibsonville  emerald  was  a  similar  crystal  of  quartz, 
the  crystals  being  3  by  2  inches.  It  was  plowed  up  in  a  field  at 
Gibsonville,  N.  C.,  and  when  first  found  was  believed  to  be  an 
emerald.  Some  crystals  of  limpicL  ouartz,  containing  particles  of 
native  gold,  have  been  found  in  C^Rfornia.  One  of  these  was 
said  to  have  been  i  inch  long,  and  enclosed  in  the  center  was  a 
scale  of  gold  about  the  size  of  the  lunula  of  a  finger-nail.  Two 
similar  inclusions,  though  not  so  large,  are  in  the  possession  of 
Rev.  Horace  C.  Hovey,  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.  In  Nevada 
County,  Cal.,  in  the  Grass  Valley  Mines,  quartz  is  occasionally 
found  supporting  gold  between  the  crystals.  Pellucid  crystals  of 
quartz,  some  i  inch  long  and  f  inch  across,  filled  with  a 
very  brilliant  stibnite  projecting  in  all  directions,  and  some  of 
them  curiously  bent,  were  found  at  the  Little  Dora  Mine,  Ani- 
mas  Forks,  San  Juan,  Col.  This  material  is  capable  of  being 
made  into  very  beautiful  gems.  A  fine  crystal  2  inches  long 
and  i  inch  in  diameter  is  in  the  Tiffany  Collection.  The  crys- 
tals of  quartz  from  the  Herkimer,  N.  Y.,  North  Carolina,  and 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  12 J 

Arkansas  localities,  containing  fluid  cavities  with  moving  bubbles, 
are  sometimes  cut  into  ornaments  which  are  not  only  interesting 
but  pretty.  One  of  these  pure  limpid  crystals  with  a  crescent- 
shaped  cavity,  from  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  was  mounted  in  a  pair  of 
gold  ice-tongs  to  represent  a  cake  of  ice.  Such  crystals  are  val- 
ued at  from  $i  to  $25  each. 

The  fine  amethyst  from  Rabun  County,  Ga.,  often  contains 
fluid  cavities  nearly  an  inch  long,  and  could  be  cut  into  interest- 
ing objects  like  those  from  Stow,  Me.  From  a  region  twenty 
miles  west  of  Hot  Springs  and  extending  westward  for  about  sixty 
miles,  the  quartz  crystals  are  generally  all  doubly  terminated  and 
detached,  and  are  found  loose  in  the  sand  between  the  breaks  or 
veins  in  the  sandstone,  which  in  appearance  strikingly  resembles 
the  calciferous  sandstones  of  Herkimer,  N.  Y.  At  that  part  of  the 
region  called  the  "  gem  country  "  nearest  Hot  Springs,  the  crystals 
are  quite  white,  but  proceeding  westward  they  gradually  shade 
into  the  dark  smoky  color  found  at  the  other  end  of  the  district. 
The  quartz  is  usually  filled  with  fluid  cavities.  Some  400 
crystals  with  liquid  inclusions  were  collected  by  the  writer  as 
the  result  of  three  days'  digging.  The  quartz  pseudomorphs 
after  calcite  cleavages  from  the  locality  two  or  three  miles  north- 
west from  Rutherfordton,  Rutherford  County,  N.  C.,  frequently 
contain  irregularly  shaped  cavities  filled  with  water,  which,  if 
broken  out  in  good  shape,  ca^be  utilized  as  curious  ornaments. 
This  variety  of  quartz  was  a^ro  found  by  J.  A.  D.  Stephenson  in 
Iredell  County.  Possibly  the  finest  specimen  is  one  that  be- 
longed to  William  B.  Dinsmore,  of  New  York  City,  and  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  found  in  Georgia.  It  is  coated  with  a 
beautiful,  bluish-white  chalcedony  with  a  curious  rough  surface, 
is  about  an  inch  long,  and  is  perfect  on  all  sides,  the  bubble  of  air 
moving  freely.  Its  walls  are  so  thin  that  the  liquid  with  which 
it  is  filled  weighs  fully  twice  as  much  as  the  quartz  walls  them- 
selves. Among  other  inclusions  that  might  be  utilized  for  gems, 
the  following  may  be  mentioned  :  Crystals  of  transparent  quartz 
filled  with  specular  iron  found  at  the  Sterling  Mine,  Antwerp, 
N.  Y.  ;  quartz  including  scales  of  hematite  from  King's  Mills, 
Iredell  County,  N.  C.  ;  rhomb-shaped  crystals  of  dolomite  in 
crystals  of  pellucid  quartz  from  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y. ;  crys- 


128 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


tals  of  quartz  containing  crystals  of  green  spodumene  (hid- 
denite)  from  Stony  Point,  N.  C;  inclosures  of  muscovite  mica, 
that  are  green  when  viewed  through  the  side  of  the  prism,  and 
green  chlorite  from  several  localities  in  Alexander  County,  N.  C.; 
and  epidote  in  smoky  quartz  from  Whitson's,  near  Sing  Sing, 
N.  Y. 

Agates  are  not  produced  in  sufficient  quantity  in  the  United 
States  to  admit  of  exportation.  Indeed,  $2,000  would  cover  the 
annual  production  and  sale  here.  Nearly  all  the  agate  jewelry  sold 
in  this  country,  as  elsewhere  throughout  the  world,  comes  from 
Oberstein  and  Idar,  on  the  river  Nahe  in  the  duchy  of  Olden- 
burg, where  the  manufacture  of  such  articles  has  flourished  for 
over  three  centuries.  The  supplies  of  agate  material  are  ob- 
tained principally  from  Uruguay  and  Brazil,  in  South  America, 

QUARTZ 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

in 

I 

a 

3 

s 

•0 

j 

£ 

's.f 

fcO 

S2 

X  K 

t-o 

II 

White,  waxy  lustre  [ 

Hot  Springs,     ) 
Ark1  ) 

99^35 

0-113 

0-087 

0-165 

trace 

trace 

2-649 

Pale  blue  to  deep  ) 

Nelson  Co.,      ) 

99*392 

°'539 

0*069 

1  Analyst,  C.  E.  Wait.    D.  D.  Owen,  ad.  Geol.  Rep.,  State  of  Ark.;  C.  E.  Wait,  Chemical  News,  Nov.  29, 1873. 
>  Analyst,  R.  Robertson.    F.  P.  Dunington,  Chemical  News,  Oct.  31, 1884,  p.  207. 

and  so  extensive  is  this  industry  that  it  is  not  an  uncommon 
thing  to  see  in  the  tavern-yard  of  Idar  great  piles  of  from  10  to 
loo  tons  of  rough  agate,  varying  in  size  from  a  few  inches  to 
several  feet  across,  ready  to  be  auctioned  off  in  lots  to  suit  pur- 
chasers. Prices  usually  range  from  five  cents  to  several  dollars 
a  pound,  the  average  probably  not  exceeding  twenty-five  cents. 
Agate,  chalcedony,  carnelian,  sard,  and  other  varieties  of  the 
agate  group  are  found  in  great  abundance  at  many  places  in  the 
United  States.  At  Agate  Bay,  Lake  Superior,  large  numbers  of 
small  banded  agates,  often  of  a  rich  red  color,  are  found.  These 
are  quite  extensively  cut.  Often  the  natural  pebbles  are  polished 
all  over,  then  drilled  at  one  end,  and  sold  to  tourists  as  charms, 
or  they  are  placed  in  bottles  of  water,  to  show  the  markings  to 
the  best  advantage,  neatly  arranged  according  to  color  and  size, 
and  sold  as  mementoes.  Many  fine  agates,  some  of  great  beauty, 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  129 

are  found  in  Colorado  and  through  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but 
only  a  small  portion  are  polished,  as  the  agates  from  Brazil  and 
Uruguay  can  be  cut  in  Germany,  and  sold  at  much  lower  rates, 
with  the  result  that  nearly  all  the  polished  agate  specimens  sold 
in  America  are  from  the  German  market.  The  trap  rocks 
along  the  Connecticut  River,  especially  at  Amherst  and  Conway, 
Mass.,  and  Farmington,  East  Haven,  Woodbury,  and  Guilford, 
Conn.,  occasionally  afford  agates  of  considerable  beauty,  though 
rarely  over  3  inches  across.  These  were  the  so-called  chalcedonic 
balls  of  Torringford  and  are  very  handsome  when  polished; 
the  rich  carnelian  shades  with  milky  translucency  afford  a  very 
pleasing  contrast.  Many  of  these  were  cut  into  the  forms  of 
sealstones  as  early  as  1837,  and  in  the  delicate  arrangement  of  the 
layers  and  the  richness  of  the  colors  were  fully  equal  to  any  from 
abroad.  At  Natural  Bridge,  Jefferson  County,  N.  Y.,  fine  agates 
have  been  found.  The  Belmont  Lead  Mine,  in  St.  Lawrence 
County,  has  afforded  some  very  good  chalcedony.  Dr.  W.  H. 
Horton  has  described  white,  yellow,  and  blue  chalcedony  that 
was  found  in  masses  of  good  size  near  Bellvale,  Orange  County, 
N.  Y.1  Chalcedony  is  found  in  Delaware  County,  Pa.,  princi- 
pally at  Middletown  and  Marple.  Brown  botryoidal  masses  oc- 
cur at  the  Hopewell  Mine  ;  also  at  Willistown,  West  Notting- 
ham, West  Goshen,  and  London  Grove  Townships,  in  Chester 
County ;  a  pale  variety  at  Cornwall,  Lebanon  County ;  near 
Rock  Spring  and  Wood's  Mine,  in  Lancaster  County ;  between 
Clay  and  Hamburg ;  also,  at  Flint  Mill,  Berks  County ;  in 
Cherry  Valley,  Monroe  County ;  at  Conshohocken,  Montgomery 
County,  and  in  other  places  in  Pennsylvania.  In  many  of  these 
localities,  especially  in  Delaware  and  Chester  Counties,  the  resi- 
dents wear  ringstones,  sealstones,  and  other  ornaments,  which 
they  have  had  cut  from  local  material.  Dr.  Lewis  C.  Beck 
in  his  "  Mineralogy  of  New  York  "  mentions  agate  nodules  over 
2  inches  in  diameter  obtained  from  the  trap  rock  near  Paterson, 
N.  J.  J.  C.  and  J.  B.  Anthony  say :  "  Agate  is  found  in  great 
abundance  at  Diamond  Hill  and  its  vicinity,  and  is  a  mixture 
composed  of  quartz,  chalcedony,  and  hornstone  variously  arranged 
in  strips,  spots,  or  irregular  figures,  and  is  susceptible  of  a  fine 

1  Geological  Survey  of  New  York  (1840),  Report  on  Orange  County  Minerals. 


I3O  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

polish  and  frequently  combines  a  beautiful  blending  of  colors." 
Maryland  chalcedony  of  a  skyblue  color,  translucent  and 
beautiful,  is  found  half  a  mile  east  of  where  the  Western 
Run  crosses  the  York  turnpike ;  agate  and  carnelian,  in 
thin  coatings  upon  chalcedony,  near  the  Jones  Falls  turnpike; 
also  at  a  point  four  miles  from  Baltimore,  and  again  on  the  York 
turnpike  thirteen  and  a  half  miles  from  the  same  city.  A  rich 
fawn  and  salmon  colored  chalcedony  has  been  found  near  Lin- 
ville,  in  Burke  County,  N.  C.,  and  fine  agates  and  chalcedony 
at  Caldwell's,  Mecklenburgh  County,  near  Harrisburg  and  Con- 
cord, Cabarrus  County,  and  Granville,  Orange  County,  and  in 
other  localities  in  North  Carolina.  Agate  pebbles  are  found 
all  along  the  Mississippi  River,  especially  in  Minnesota, 
and  fine  pebbles  of  chalcedony  occur  plentifully  five  miles 
north  of  Grand  Rapids,  Wis.  Agate  and  chalcedony  are  both 
found  along  Fox  River,  111.,  and  agate,  chalcedony,  and  carne- 
lian near  Van  Horn's  Well,  Tex.,  and  near  Hot  Springs, 
Ark.  In  Final  County,  Ariz.,  are  found  large  quantities  of  amyg- 
dules  of  beautifully  banded  agate,  often  coated  with  opal.  They 
vary  from  i  to  8  inches  in  diameter,  and  when  broken  are  gen- 
erally light  bluish-gray  or  light  gray  in  color.  They  would  be 
extremely  beautiful  if  cut  and  polished.  Seven  miles  south  of 
Cisco,  Utah,  are  extensive  beds  of  flesh-red,  pink,  and  salmon- 
colored  agate,,  which  received  a  great  deal  of  notice  by  the 
press  a  few  years  ago,  under  the  name  of  blood-agate. 

In  Colorado,  chalcedony  is  found  eight  miles  south  of 
Cheyenne  Mountain  at  the  Los  Pinos  Agency  at  Chalk  Hills ;  on 
the  bluffs  near  Wagon-Wheel  Gap  and  along  the  upper  Rio 
Grande  Valley  ;  in  Middle  South  Parks,  Buffalo  Park,  Fair  Play, 
Frying  Pan,  Trout  Creek,  Gunnison  River,  and  frequently  in 
drift  accumulations.  Agate  is  found  in  fine  specimens  lined  with 
amethyst  on  the  summit  of  the  range  of  the  Animas ;  clouded 
white  and  gray  in  the  lower  trachytic  formations  of  the  Uncom- 
pahgre ;  and  in  a  variety  of  forms,  clouded,  banded,  laminated, 
and  variegated,  at  the  Los  Pinos  Agency ;  also  in  the  drift  in  the 
South  Park,  in  the  Lower  Arkansas  Valley,  on  the  Frying  Pan, 
arid  throughout  the  Middle  Park,  in  the  form  of  onyx  and  sar- 
donyx, on  the  lower  Gunnison  and  adjacent  regions.  William  P. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 

Blake  mentions  the  occurrence  of  large  masses  of  white  chal- 
cedony, delicately  veined  and  in  mammillary  sheets,  near  the 
Panoche,  in  Fresno  County  and  in  Monterey  County,  Cal. ;  on 
Walker  River,  Nev. ;  of  a  fine  pink  color  near  Aurora,  Esmeralda 
County,  Nev. ;  and  in  pear-shaped  nodules  in  the  eruptive  rocks 
between  Williamson's  Park  and  Johnson's  River,  Los  Angeles 
County,  Cal.  A  very  interesting  form  of  chalcedony  is  found  in 
the  vicinity  of  Crawford,  Darres  County,  Neb.,  where  nearly  all 
the  narrow  cavities  in  the  large  fossil  bones  found  are  entirely 
filled  with  cores  of  gray  chalcedony,  which  are  left  scattered  in 
great  numbers  over  the  ground  when  the  bones  are  broken  or 
have  become  weathered.  It  also  fills  all  the  seams  in  this  for- 
mation, which  after  weathering  leaves  walls  of  chalcedony,  vary- 
ing in  thickness  from  a  few  inches  to  that  of  paper,  projecting 
from  the  ground  often  to  the  height  of  several  feet,  and  some- 
times extending  across  the  country  for  miles.  At  Washougal, 
Wash.,  there  has  been  found  quite  a  variety  of  fine  agates 
and  moss  agates  in  the  form  of  pebbles  from  i  to  4  inches 
in  diameter.  The  corals  and  sponges  of  Tampa  Bay,  Fla., 
which  are  so  often  altered  to  chalcedony  by  the  silicious 
waters,  are  at  times  filled  with  a  fluid  which  was  imprisoned  while 
the  regular  deposition  of  the  silica  was  closing  the  apertures  that 
admitted  the  water.  They  are  always  lined  with  drusy  quartz, 
as  are  those  found  in  Uraguay,  the  so-called  hydrolites,  or  water- 
stones,  and,  if  not  as  beautiful  as  the  latter,  they  are  even  more 
interesting,  and  have  been  sold  from  $2  to  $20  each.  Beautiful 
pebbles  of  agate  and  chalcedony  are  found  in  abundance  along 
the  beach  of  Crescent  City,  Cal.,  and  are  often  cut  as  souvenirs. 
They  are  usually  of  a  light  color,  but  delicately  veined  and 
marked.  Beautiful  little  agates  from  Pescadero  Beach  in  Cali- 
fornia are  sold  in  large  quantities,  and  in  different  forms,  polished 
and  unpolished,  loose  or  in  vials  of  water.  Occasionally  some  of 
these  are  found  enclosing,  like  the  hydrolites  from  Uraguay  and 
the  chalcedony  from  Tampa  Bay,  Fla.,  a  pebble  moving  in 
liquid.  These  pebbles,  which  may  well  be  called  sealed  flasks, 
vary  from  TV  to  i  inch,  and  rarely  are  i  inch  in  diameter.  They  are 
also  found  at  Yaquina  Bay,  Ore.  In  the  pebbly  drift  of  the 
Colorado  River  the  agates  are  more  highly  colored,  more  abun- 


132  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

dant,  and  of  larger  size.  Many  of  the  surf-worn  pebbles  of 
Pescadero  Beach,  Cal.,  are  agate  and  quartz,  of  very  fine,  bright 
colors,  and  are  occasionally  utilized  as  gem  stones.  Fine  agates 
have  been  found  with  the  jaspers  on  the  Willamette,  Columbia, 
and  other  rivers  in  Oregon.  At  Tampa  Bay,  Fla.,  red  and 
yellow  carnelian  and  sardonyx  result  from  the  silicification 
of  the  corals  and  sponges,  and  occur  in  rolled  pebbles  on  the 
beach,  and  although  the  pieces  are  not  large,  the  colors  are  very 
beautiful. 

The  silicified  bones  of  Atlantasaurus,  a  great  extinct 
saurian,  found  at  Morrison,  Col.,  have  at  times  a  coarse  cellular 
structure,  which  has  been  infiltrated  with  carnelian,  giving  a  very 
pleasing  effect  of  brilliant  red  stripes  and  spots.  Chalcedony 
coats  and  incloses  the  crystallized  cinnabar  of  the  Redington  and 
other  mines  of  California  ;  and  these  crusts,  if  cut  with  the  cin- 
nabar, form  some  of  the  prettiest  and  most  interesting  gem 
stones  ever  found.  The  chalcedony  coatings  on  the  blue 
and  green  chrysocolla  found  in  the  cavities  of  the  Copper 
Queen  Mine,  Ariz.,  are  very  beautiful  if  cut  in  the  same  man- 
ner. (See  Agatized  Wood.)  No  stone,  used  in  jewelry,  that  is 
found  in  the  United  States  is  cheaper,  more  beautiful,  or  more 
plentiful  than  the  moss  agate.  Those  found  in  brooks  and 
streams,  called  "  river  agates,"  are  the  most  desirable.  Nearly  all 
are  sent  abroad  for  cutting,  and  returned  for  home  use.  When 
this  stone  was  fashionable,  fine  stones  were  worth  $10  each  and 
upwards,  and  as  much  as  $20,000  worth  was  sold  in  a  year, 
but  at  present  they  are  only  sold  to  tourists  or  used  in  the 
cheapest  jewelry.  The  principal  sources  of  the  supply  are  Utah, 
Colorado,  Montana,  and  Wyoming.  Large  quantities  of  moss 
agates  were  found  in  the  excavations  formed  in  constructing  the 
Omaha  and  Council  Bluffs  Bridge  over  the  Missouri  River,  and 
near  Cheyenne  in  Wyoming  they  are  found  by  the  ton.  A  so- 
called  moss  agate  is  found  at  Rock  Springs,  Lancaster  County, 
and  near  Reading,  Berks  County,  Pa.  Moss  agate  was  formerly 
found  near  Hillsbo rough,  Orange  County,  N.  C.  The  agatized 
trees  from  Holbrook  and  Specimen  Mount  show  mosslike  mark- 
ing, more  like  that  of  the  fine  tree-stones  from  Brazil  or  the 
Mocha  stones  from  India  than  of  the  common  moss  agate.  One 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  133 

curious  candle-shaped  stalactite  of  chalcedony,  about  3  inches 
long,  had  a  black  core  of  oxide  of  manganese,  a  secondary  de- 
position in  a  chalcedony  stalactite,  running  through  its  entire 
length,  at  first  sight  scarcely  distinguishable  from  a  half-burned 
candle ;  unfortunately  it  was  cut  into  a  number  of  matched  stones 
for  cuff-buttons,  which  were  rendered  quite  unique  by  the  black 
central  dot.  In  the  southeastern  part  of  Humboldt  County, 
Nev.,  are  large  quantities  of  moss  agate  of  the  dendritic 
and  "  fortification  "  forms.  A  beautiful  moss  agate  is  found  in 
Trego  County,  Kan.  (See  Jasper  and  Moss  Opal.)  Moss 
agate  has  been  little  used  since  1882,  the  sales  not  exceeding 
$  i  ,000  a  year.  Since  the  introduction  into  cheap  jewelry  of  the 
Chinese  natural  green  and  artificially-colored  red  and  yellow  moss 
agate,  the  sale  of  native  stones  has  almost  entirely  fallen  off. 

Jasper  is  found  in  many  places  in  the  United  States,  and  in 
a  great  variety  of  colors,  though,  for  so  common  a  stone,  it  is  very 
little  used  in  the  arts,  the  entire  annual  sales  not  amounting  to 
$500.  Fine  red  jasper  is  found  on  Sugar  Loaf  Mountain,  Me.,  and 
a  yellow  variety  with  chalcedony  has  been  found  at  Chester, 
Mass.,  and  "red  and  yellow  by  Dr.  Horton,  at  Bellvale,  Orange 
County,  N.  Y.  Pebbles  of  a  fine  red  color  occur  along  the  Hud- 
son River  from  Troy  to  New  York,  especially  at  Hoboken,  Fort 
Lee,  and  Troy,  where  so-called  jasperoid  rock  crops  out.  Jasper 
agate  is  found  in  considerable  quantity  at  Diamond  Hill,  Cum- 
berland,  R.  I.,  in  all  shades  of  white,  yellow,  red,  and  green,  and 
with  these  colors  intermixed  in  one  specimen,  usually  mottled, 
and  at  times  beautifully  banded  in  irregular  seams  of  white, 
creamy  brown,  greenish,  and  brecciated.  It  is  found  in  large 
quantities.  Fully  1,000  pounds  are  taken  away  yearly  by  vis- 
itors and  collectors,  but  not  over  $100  worth  is  sold  in  a  year. 
Large  pieces  of  fine  yellow  jasper  are  found  at  Tyringham,  and 
elsewhere  in  the  Berkshire  Hills,  Mass.  In  Pennsylvania  jaspers 
more  or  less  impure  are  abundant  in  the  drifts  of  the  Delaware 
and  Schuylkill  Rivers  ;  also  in  Berks  County,  near  Reading ;  a  yel- 
lowish brown  variety  is  found  at  West  Goshen,  Chester  County, 
a  reddish-brown  variety  near  Texas,  Lancaster  County,  and  a 
brown-banded  variety  near  Bethlehem.  The  arrow-heads  found  in 
this  vicinity  and  near  Easton  are  mostly  made  of  this  jasper.  The 


134  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

jaspery  sandstone  found  near  Mauch  Chunk  might  be  utilized 
with  advantage  for  large  ornamental  works.  In  North  Carolina 
fine  jasper,  banded  red  and  black,  is  found  in  Granville,  Person 
County  ;  bright  brick-red  and  yellow  at  Knapp's,  Reed's  Creek, 
Madison  County ;  at  Warm  Springs ;  at  Shut-in-Creek  in  Moore 
County ;  also  in  Wake  County,  and  elsewhere.  In  Texas  fine 
jasper  has  been  found  near  Fort  Davis,  Jeff.  Davis  County,  and 
at  Barela  Springs,  where  are  obtained  the  jasper  agates  called 
Texas  agates.  The  finest  jasper  is  found  in  great  quantity  near 
Collyer,  Trego  County,  Kan.,  where  there  is  a  remarkable  bed 
of  the  banded  variety ;  the  colors  are  the  various  shades  of  red 
and  yellow,  with  bands  of  white,  so  remarkably  even  that  the 
stone  would  furnish  an  excellent  material  for  cameo  work,  and 
should  this  style  of  jewelry  come  into  vogue  again  this  deposit 
may  prove  of  considerable  value ;  as  it  is,  the  beautiful  red  and 
yellow  are  so  strikingly  relieved  by  the  white  that  it  makes  a  fine 
ornamental  stone.  It  affords  blocks  over  a  foot  in  length  and  6 
to  8  inches  in  width,  and  really  merits  the  attention  of  workers 
in  ornamental  stone,  as  no  banded  jasper  in  the  world  can  rival 
it,  and  it  exists  in  unlimited  quantities.  A  beautiful  moss  jasper, 
equal  to  any  known,  is  found  in  this  same  locality,  in  pieces 
nearly  a  foot  long  and  5  or  6  inches  in  diameter.  When  pol- 
ished, it  is  exceedingly  beautiful.  Dr.  John  T.  Plummer  men- 
tions the  occurrence,  in  Richmond,  of  "  masses  of  beautiful  breccia 
having  a  whitish  base  set  with  hornstone  and  bright  red  and 
other  colored  jasper,"1  as  well  as  of  common  jasper.  Fine  yel- 
low, brown,  and  red  jasper  is  found  at  the  Los  Pinos  Agency ; 
throughout  the  Middle  and  South  Parks ;  along  the  Gunnison,  in 
the  Dakota  group ;  on  the  Arkansas,  Grand,  White,  Animas,  and 
other  rivers  of  Colorado  ;  in  the  drift,  and  in  some  of  the  tra- 
chytes, mostly  red,  green,  and  brown.  A  very  fine  specimen  was 
found  at  the  junction  of  the  Lost  Trail  Creek  and  the  Rio 
Grande.  Small  but  smoothly  worn  pebbles  of  jasper  and  agate 
are  quite  plentiful  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Tahoe,  Cal.  Red  and 
green  jasper  are  abundant  in  the  neighborhood  of  San  Francisco, 
where  an  impure  variety  of  this  stone  has  been  used  for  build- 
ings and  sidewalks.  Red,  yellow,  and  brown  jasper  is  found 

1  Suburban  Geology  of  Richmond,  Ind.,  Am.  J.  Sci.  I.,  Vol.  44,  p.  281,  Jan.,  1843. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  135 

at  Murphy's,  Calaveras  County,  Cal.,  in  great  variety  and  of  su- 
perior quality.  Red  jasper  is  also  found  on  the  Little  Colorado 
River,  in  New  Mexico,  and  on  the  Willamette  in  Oregon.  The 
latter  region  evidently  furnished  the  material  for  the  arrow-points 
of  the  Oregon  Indians. 

Blood-stone  or  heliotrope  in  beautiful  specimens,  with  very 
fine  red  markings,  is  found  in  Chatham  County,  Ga.  Helio- 
tropes from  this  vicinity  are  in  the  cabinet  of  W.  W.  Jefferis,  of 
Philadelphia.  Heliotrope  was  formerly  found  in  the  veins  in 
slate  at  Blooming  Grove,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.  Good  speci- 
mens have  been  found  near  the  Willamette  River,  Oregon,  near 
the  South  Park,  Col.,  and  below  the  Uncompahgre,  near  Grand 
River.  The  so-called  green  jasper,  which  is  really  a  chert  of  Nor- 
man's Kill,  from  the  Hudson  River  slates  at  Albany  County, 
N.  Y.,  was  used  by  the  Indians  for  arrow-points.  A  fine  specimen 
of  heliotrope  or  blood-stone  is  reported  to  have  been  found  here, 
on  the  same  authority  that  a  similar  and  entirely  unreliable  oc- 
currence was  reported  in  Texas,  and  the  stones  from  both  are 
evidently  of  foreign  origin. 

Basanite  (the  Lydian  stone,  the  touch-stone  or  test-stone  of 
the  jeweler)  was  found  by  Dr.  Horton  at  Canterbury  and  Corn- 
wall, N.  Y.  It  is  also  sparingly  found  in  nearly  all  the  drift 
north  of  New  York  City,  and  in  that  part  of  the  Delaware  River 
from  Easton,  Pa.,  down  to  the  State  line,  also  in  many  other 
parts  of  the  United  States.  A  beautiful  spear-point,  5  inches 
long,  and  a  number  of  arrow-points,  made  from  this  material,  have 
been  found  near  Statesville,  N.  C. 

Silicified  wood,  which  is  variously  known  as  wood  agate  and 
wood  opal,  is  found  in  great  abundance  in  Colorado,  California, 
and  other  Western  States  and  Territories.  Of  its  mode  of  for- 
mation, Prof.  Joseph  Le  Conte1  says :  "  In  a  good  specimen  of  pet- 
rified wood  not  only  the  external  form  of  the  trunk,  not  only  the 
general  structure  of  the  stem — pith,  wood,  and  bark — not  only 
the  radiating  silver-grain  and  the  concentric  rings  of  growth  are 
discernible,  but  even  the  microscopic  cellular  structure  of  the 
wood  and  the  exquisite  sculpturings  of  the  cell-walls  themselves 
are  perfectly  preserved,  so  that  the  kind  of  wood  may  often  be 

1  Elements  of  Geology,  p.  192. 


136  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

determined  by  the  microscope  with  the  utmost  certainty,  yet  not 
one  particle  of  the  organic  matter  of  the  wood  remains.  It  has 
been  entirely  replaced  by  mineral  matter,  usually  some  form  of 
silica."  The  general  theory  of  petrifaction  is  derived  as  follows : 
When  wood  is  soaked  in  a  strong  solution  of  iron  sulphate  (cop- 
peras), then  dried,  and  the  same  process  repeated  until  the  wood 
is  highly  charged  with  this  solution  and  then  burned,  the  struc- 
ture of  the  wood  will  be  preserved  in  the  peroxide  of  iron  that 
remains ;  also  it  is  well  known  that  the  smallest  fissures  and  cavi- 
ties in  rocks  are  speedily  filled  by  infiltrating  waters  with  mineral 
matters  ;  hence  wood  buried  in  soil  soaked  with  some  petrifying 
material  becomes  highly  charged  with  the  same  and  the  cells 
filled  with  the  infiltrating  material,  so  that  when  the  wood  decays 
the  petrifying  material  is  left,  retaining  the  structure  of  the  wood. 
Furthermore,  as  each  particle  of  organic  matter  passes  away  by 
decay,  a  particle  of  mineral  matter  takes  its  place,  until  finally  all 
of  the  organic  matter  is  replaced.  The  process  of  petrifaction  is 
therefore  one  of  substitution  as  well  as  of  interstitial  filling. 
From  the  different  nature  of  the  process  in  the  two  cases,  it  hap- 
pens that  the  interstitial  filling  always  differs,  either  in  chemical 
composition  or  in  color,  from  the  substituting  material.  Thus 
the  structure  remains  visible,  although  the  mass  is  solid.  Prof. 
James  D.  Dana  offers  the  following  explanation  of  the  phe- 
nomenon. "The  wood  or  often  trunks  of  trees,  and  sometimes 
standing  forests,  which  have  been  petrified  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain region,  have  in  general  been  buried  under  volcanic  debris, 
which  constitutes  beds  of  great  extent  in  many  regions.  This 
volcanic  material,  called  tufa,  undergoes  partial  alteration 
through  the  action  of  the  waters  or  moisture  it  may  contain, 
or  that  may  filtrate  through  it.  In  this  alteration  or  partial 
decomposition  much  silica  is  set  free,  and  makes  the  waters 
or  moisture  silicious.  The  silicious  solution  then  made  pen- 
etrates the  wood  that  is  buried  in  the  tufa.  Very  slowly 
the  silica  is  deposited  in  all  the  cells  of  the  wood ;  and  as 
the  wood  decomposes,  silica  takes  the  place  of  the  particles 
of  the  fibres  until  finally  the  wood  becomes  wholly  silica  or 
quartz."  Concerning  the  color,  he  adds  that  the  brownish-yellow 
is  limonite,  which  if  heated  will  turn  red.  Among  the  great 


CHALCEDONY   CHIEF,    CHALCEDONY    PARK,    ARIZONA 


VIEW    IN     CHALCEDONY    PARK,    ARIZONA 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  1 37 

American  wonders  is  the  silicified  forest,  known  as  Chalcedony 
Park,  situated  about  eight  miles  south  of  Corrizo,  a  station  on 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad,  in  Apache  County,  Ariz.  The 
country  formation  is  sandstone  on  volcanic  ash,  and  the  trees  are 
exposed  in  gulches  and  basins  where  the  water  has  worn  the 
sandstone  away,  or  are  buried  beneath  the  sandstone,  their  ends 
protruding  from  between  the  formations.  (See  Illustration.) 
The  locality  was  noticed  in  1853  by  the  Pacific  Railroad  Explor- 
ing Survey.  The  jasper  and  agate  generally  replaced  the  cell- 
walls  and  fibres,  and  the  transparent  quartz  filled  the  cells  and 
interstices,  especially  where  the  structure  was  broken  down 
by  decay.  These  cell-centers  and  cavities  produced  conditions 
favorable  not  only  for  the  deposition  of  silica  as  quartz,  but  also 
for  the  formation  of  the  drusy  crystalline  cavities  of  quartz  and 
amethyst  that  so  increase  the  beauty  of  the  material.  There  is 
every  evidence  to  show  that  the  trees  grew  beside  some  inland 
sea.  After  falling  they  became  water-logged,  and  during  decom- 
position the  cell  structure  of  the  wood  was  entirely  replaced  by 
silica  from  sandstone  in  the  walls  surrounding  this  great  inland 
sea.  Major  John  W.  Powell,  who  has  visited  all  these  regions, 
says  :  "  The  wood  consisted  of  logs  water-rolled  before  burial, 
and  are  now  gradually  weathering  out  of  their  matrix.  The  en- 
closing rock  is  sandstone  and  cretaceous  shale  of  the  series  known 
as  Jura-trias  and  lying  immediately  above  the  Chinarump. 
Agatized  wood  containing  much  semi-opal  has  been  formed  in 
California  (and  possibly  in  Arizona)  under  volcanic  deposits,  but 
the  wood  in  question  is  not  associated  with  volcanic  material ;  its 
matrix  is  sedimentary." 

The  red  and  yellow  coloring  matter  is  derived  from  the 
oxide  of  iron  in  the  sandstone,  which  is  red,  and  the  black  may 
be  due  to  partial  carbonization  or  to  oxide  of  manganese.  The 
bark  in  nearly  every  case  has  been  decayed  before  silicification, 
and  even  part  of  the  other  layers  of  the  tree  is  often  gone ;  but 
the  difference  between  the  oxidation  on  the  surface  and  inside  is 
that  the  surface,  to  the  depth  of  half  an  inch,  is  so  altered  and 
changed  that  it  has  the  appearance  of  bark,  and  it  is  generally 
supposed  to  be  such. 

There  is  every  indication  that  the  deposit  is  of  considerable 


138  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

depth.  Over  the  entire  area,  trees  lie  scattered  in  all  conceiva- 
ble positions  and  in  fragments  of  all  sizes,  the  broken  sections 
sometimes  resembling  a  pile  of  cartwheels.  A  tree  1 50  feet  in 
length  is  often  found  split  into  as  many  sections,  of  almost 
uniform  length,  presenting  the  appearance  of  having  been 
sawn  asunder  for  shingle-blocks  by  some  prehistoric  forester ; 
or  broken  into  countless  fragments,  ranging  from  the  size  of 
a  small  pebble  to  that  of  a  fair-sized  boulder,  also  fractured 
into  perfect-shaped  cubes,  as  if  cut  by  a  lapidary.  These 
multiplied  fractures  are  the  result  of  alternate  heat  and  cold, 
produced  by  atmospheric  changes,  acting  on  the  water  col- 
lected in  fissures  of  the  tree.  A  phenomenon  perhaps  unpar- 
alleled, and  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  park,  is  a  natural 
bridge  formed  by  a  tree  of  agatized  wood  spanning  a  cafton 
45  feet  in  width.  (See  Illustration.)  In  addition  to  the  span, 
fully  50  feet  of  the  tree  rest  on  one  side,  making  it  visible  for  a 
length  over  100  feet.  Both  ends  of  the  tree  are  imbedded  in  the 
sandstone.  It  averages  3^  feet  in  diameter, — 4  feet  at  the  thick- 
est part  and  3  at  the  smallest.  Where  the  bark  does  not  adhere 
the  characteristic  colors  of  jasper  and  agate  are  seen.  Although 
the  wood  is  beautiful  to  the  naked  eye,  a  microscope  is  needed  to 
reveal  its  greatest  charms ;  not  only  does  the  glass  enhance  the 
brilliancy  of  the  colors,  but  it  renders  visible  the  structure,  which 
has  been  perfectly  preserved  even  to  the  forms  of  minute  cells, 
and  is  more  beautiful  now  than  before  the  transformation.  Dr. 
P.  H.  Dudley  examined  microscopically  some  sections  of  this 
wood,  and  found  that  part  of  it  at  least  belongs  to  the  genus 
Araucaria,  one  species  of  which,  Araucaria  excelsa,  the  Norfolk 
Island  pine  of  the  South  Pacific  Ocean,  according  to  the  same 
authority,  grows  to  a  height  of  from  100  to  200  feet.  Other 
portions  were  found  to  resemble  our  red  cedar,  Juniperus  Virgin- 
iana,  when  grown  in  the  extreme  south.  The  cell-structure  of 
some  of  the  wood  indicates  growth  in  a  mild,  uniform  climate, 
the  annual  rings  being  marked  only  by  one,  two,  three  or  more 
slightly  smaller  hexagonal  or  rounded,  not  tabular,  cells  as  is 
usually  the  case.  The  name  "  chinarump "  has  been  suggested 
for  this  substance  by  Major  John  W.  Powell,  this  being  the  Indian 
name  for  the  material.  These  trees,  according  to  one  of  the  In- 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  139 

dian  myths,  were  believed  to  be  the  bolts  of  the  arrows  used  by 
their  god.  It  has  been  extensively  used  by  them  in  making 
spear  and  arrow-points. 

William  H.  Holmes,  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
thus  describes  the  locality  in  Utah  known  as  Amethyst  Mountain, 
opposite  the  valley  of  Soda  Butte  Creek :  "  Riding  up  the  trail,  a 
multitude  of  bleached  trunks  of  the  ancient  forests  are  discerned. 
...  In  the  steeper  middle  portion  of  the  mountain  face,  rows 
of  upright  trunks  stand  out  on  the  ledges  like  the  columns  of 
a  ruined  temple,  on  the  more  gentle  slopes,  farther  down ;  but 
where  it  is  still  too  steep  to  support  vegetation,  save  a  few  pines, 
the  petrified  trunks  fairly  cover  the  surface  and  were  at  first  taken 
to  be  the  shattered  remains  of  a  recent  forest.  The  exposures 
of  strata  in  the  first  300  or  400  feet  at  the  base  are  not  good,  and 
but  few  of  the  silicified  trunks  appear  above  the  covering  of  veg- 
etation. At  the  height  of  500  feet  the  occurrences  become  very 
numerous,  and  the  great  size  and  fine  preservation  of  many  of  the 
trunks  was  a  matter  of  much  surprise.  Prostrate  trunks  40  and 
50  feet  in  length  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  not  a  few  of 
these  are  5  or  6  feet  in  diameter.  The  standing  trunks  are  gen- 
erally rather  short,  the  degradation  of  the  compact  inclosing 
strata  being  so  slow  that  the  brittle  trunks  break  down  almost  as 
fast  as  they  are  exposed,  and  in  many  cases  the  roots  are  exposed 
and  may  be  seen  penetrating  the  now  solid  rock  with  all  their 
original  ramifications.  One  upright  trunk  of  gigantic  proportions 
rises  from  the  inclosing  strata  to  the  height  of  12  feet.  (See 
Illustration.)  By  careful  measurement  it  was  found  to  be  10  feet 
in  diameter,  and  as  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  to  what  part  of 
the  tree  the  exposed  section  belonged,  the  roots  may  be  far  below 
the  surface,  and  we  are  free  to  imagine  that  there  is  buried  there 
a  worthy  predecessor  of  the  giant  Sequoias  of  California.  Al- 
though the  trunk  was  hollow,  and  partly  broken  down  on  one 
side,  the  woody  structure  was  perfectly  preserved  ;  the  grain  was 
straight  and  the  circles  of  growth  distinctly  marked.  The  bark, 
which  still  remains  on  the  firmer  parts,  was  4  inches  thick  and  re- 
tained very  perfectly  the  original  deeply-lined  outer  surface.  It 
was  clear,  however,  that  the  tree  is  not  a  conifer.  The  strata 
inclosing  the  trunk  consisted  chiefly  of  fine-grained  sandstones, 


I4O  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

indurated  clays,  and  moderately  coarse  conglomerate,  and  con- 
tained many  vegetable  remains,  such  as  branches,  rootlets,  fruits, 
and  leaves.  In  the  stratum  of  sandstone  occupying  the  horizon, 
nearly  on  a  level  with  the  present  top  of  the  giant  tree,  there 
was  a  large  variety  of  most  perfectly  preserved  leaves,  speci- 
mens of  which  were  determined  by  Leo  Lesquereux  to  belong 
to  the  lower  Pliocene  or  upper  Miocene,  and  similar  to'the  Chalk 
Bluff,  Cal.,  specimens  of  Prof.  Josiah  D.  Whitney.  At  a  point 
about  a  mile  further  east,  trunks  and  fragments  of  trunks  were 
found  in  great  numbers  and  in  all  conceivable  positions.  In 
most  cases  the  woody  structure  was  well  preserved,  but  the 
trunks  had  a  tendency  to  break  in  sections,  and  on  the  exposed 
ends  the  lines  of  growth  from  center  to  circumference  could  be 
counted  with  ease.  In  many  cases  the  wood  was  completely 
opalized  or  agatized,  and  cavities  existing  in  the  decayed  trunks 
were  filled  with  crystals  of  quartz  and  calcite.  Nearly  all  of 
the  crystals  found  in  the  West  have  been  formed  in  the  hollow 
of  silicified  trees,  notably  in  the  case  of  the  smoky  quartz  found 
in  the  Pike's  Peak  Region  in  Colorado.  Gen.  William  T. 
Sherman,  while  visiting  Fort  Wingate,  N.  M.,  during  his  trip 
across  the  continent,  in  the  autumn  of  1878,  suggested  to  the  of- 
ficer in  charge  of  that  post  the  desirability  of  securing  several 
large  trunks  of  these  fossil  trees,  found  in  that  vicinity,  for  the 
United  States  National  Museum.  In  the  following  spring  an  ex- 
pedition was  sent  out  for  this  purpose,  under  the  direction  of 
Lieut.  J.  T.  C.  Hegewald,  who  states  that  in  the  locality  of  Litho- 
dendron  Valley,  where  they  were  procured,  the  soil  was  com- 
posed chiefly  of  clay  and  sand,  and  the  petrified  wood,  broken 
into  millions  of  pieces,  lay  scattered  around  the  slopes  of  the 
valley.  Some  of  the  large  fossil  trees  were  well  preserved,  though 
the  alternate  action  of  heat  and  cold  had  broken  most  of  them 
in  sections  from  2  to  10  feet  long,  and  certain  of  these  he  re- 
garded as  having  been  immense  trees.  On  measuring  the  ex- 
posed parts  of  several,  it  was  found  that  they  varied  from  150  to 
200  feet  in  length  and  from  2  to  4^  feet  in  diameter,  and  their 
centers  often  contained  beautiful  quartz  crystals.  A  microscopic 
examination  shows  the  internal  structure  of  all  to  have  been 
tolerably  well  preserved,  the  cells  having  suffered  but  little  from 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  14! 

the  pressure  to  which  the  trunks  had  been  subjected.  They  all 
belong  to  the  genus  Araucarioxylon,  and  probably  are  of  the 
same  species.  The  two  from  Lithodendron  Valley  are  absolutely 
identical  in  structure,  and  that  from  Fort  Wingate  is  referred 
provisionally  to  the  same  species,  although  it  lacks  some  of  the 
essential  characteristics.  Some  eight  specimens  were  collected 
near  Estherville,  la.,  consisting  of  fragments,  completely  chal- 
cedonized  and  stained  a  yellowish-brown  color,  of  which  the 
largest  were  only  6  inches  in  length  and  4  in  diameter.  They 
were  regarded  by  Prof.  W  J  McGee  as  belonging  to  the  Creta- 
ceous age.  Although  found  in  the  drift,  the  Cretaceous  strata,  from 
which  it  was  originally  derived,  formerly  extended  over  contigu- 
ous parts  of  Minnesota  and  were  largely  removed  by  glacial  ero- 
sion during  the  Quaternary  period.  Specimens  from  Martin 
County,  Minn.,  could  not  be  distinguished  from  those  obtained 
in  Emmet  County,  la.  Near  Barrel  Springs,  in  the  Green 
River  basin  of  Wyoming,  Samuel  F.  Emmons,  of  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey,  found  a  silicified  tree,  the  structure  of 
which  was  admirably  preserved,  being  filled  in,  wherever  the 
wood  had  decomposed,  with  crystals  of  quartz.  It  was  from 
3  to  4  feet  in  diameter,  and  was  exposed  for  1 8  feet ;  both  ends 
were  imbedded  in  the  soft  earth  of  the  Bridger  beds  of  the 
Eocene  formation. 

Agatized  wood  in  large  quantities,  consisting  of  trees  from 
12  to  35  feet  in  length  and  from  18  inches  to  2  feet  in  diameter,  has 
been  found  near  Calistoga  in  Napa  County,  Cal.  Specimens  of 
agatized  and  opalized  wood  from  the  vicinity  of  Gallatin,  Mont., 
were  collected  by  Dr.  Albert  C.  Peale  and  George  P.  Merrill, 
and  later  by  Frank  H.  Knowlton,  of  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey,  who  described  it  as  white,  banded  and  streaked  with 
black  and  yellowish-brown.  Although  badly  decomposed,  it  ap- 
peared to  be  dicotyledonous.  From  several  specimens,  camera- 
drawings  were  secured  that  resembled  known  forms  of  Betuli- 
nium  and  Quercinium,  or  representations  of  our  modern  beech 
and  oak.  Of  specimens  from  the  Yellowstone  Park,  examined 
similarly,  some  were  found  to  be  dicotyledonous  and  some  conif- 
erous, the  latter  mostly  Cupressinoxylon,  or  fossil  Sequoia. 

The  amount  of   silicified  wood  found  in   Apache  County, 


142  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES    IN    THE 

Ariz.,  is  estimated  as  high  as  a  million  tons,  but  the  material 
suitable  for  decorative  purposes  is  comparatively  small  in 
quantity. 

This  material  was  selected  to  form  the  base,  of  a  beautiful 
silver  testimonial  made  by  Tiffany  &  Company  for  presentation 
to  the  French  sculptor,  Bartholdi.  It  was  chosen  on  account  of 
its  superior  hardness,  and  the  warmth  and  pleasing  combination 
of  its  colors ;  also,  as  the  designer  remarked,  it  was  eminently 
fitting  that  the  testimonial  should  rest  "  on  a  solid  American 
base."  The  problem  of  polishing  this  exceedingly  hard  material 
having  been  solved,1  its  application  for  decorative  purposes  nat- 
urally follows.  The  combinations  of  color  offer  a  great  field  for 
interior  designs.  In  tiling  floors,  for  mantels,  and  similar  pur- 
poses, it  is  most  valuable ;  for  clock-cases  and  table-tops  it  also 
promises  to  take  an  important  place,  defying  imitation,  by  rea- 
son of  its  marvelous  colorings,  close  texture,  and  remarkable 
polish  ;  and  in  the  future  the  material  may  be  worked  into  dec- 
orative columns  for  the  interior  of  fine  houses.  The  lustre  of 
its  finish  cannot  be  marred  or  impaired  by  metal  or  acid,  except 
hydrofluoric  acid,  with  which  it  may  be  etched  in  the  same  way 
as  glass.  A  column  i  foot  in  diameter  and  2  feet  long,  bored 
out  of  the  section  of  a  tree  across  the  grain  of  the  wood,  so  as 
to  display  the  heart  in  the  center,  was  exhibited  in  New  York 
City  and  was  considered  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  polished 
specimens  thus  far  shown.  Smaller  articles  of  jewelry,  mosaic 
work,  paper-weights,  paper-cutters,  toilet  articles,  handles  for 
canes  and  umbrellas,  and  similar  objects  made  from  this  material 
may  find  a  ready  sale.  A  number  of  pieces  of  this  material  was 
placed  on  exhibition  during  the  early  part  of  1889,  and  attracted 
considerable  notice  from  those  interested  in  American  minerals. 

Opal  showing  a  brilliant  play  of  rainbow  colors,  either  of  the 
noble  or  of  the  fire  opal  variety,  has  been  observed  in  the 
United  States  only,  near  John  Davis  River,  in  Crook  County, 
Ore.  The  specimen  found  there  is  transparent,  grayish-white  in 
color,  with  red,  green,  and  yellow  flames.  The  play  of  colors 
equals  in  beauty  that  of  any  Mexican  material,  and  it  is  the  first 
opal  found  in  the  United  States  that  exhibits  color.  It  strikingly 

1  See  Lapidary  Work. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


resembles  and  has  the  absorptive  properties  of  tabasheer,  the 
variety  of  opal  which  is  formed  in  the  joints  of  the  bamboo,  and 
which  is  used  in  India  for  medicinal  purposes.  Undoubtedly, 
better  material  of  the  kind  exists  where  this  was  found.  The 
opals  sold  so  extensively  at  tourists' resorts  are  generally  of  Mexi- 
can origin.  A  beautiful  fire  opal  without  any  opalescence  occurs 
in  a  small  vein  about  i  inch  thick  and  2  inches  square,  from 
Washington  County,  Ga.;  this  locality  was  first  described  by 
Prof.  George  J.  Brush  of  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School,  and 
he  has  the  finest  piece  of  this  opal  in  his  cabinet.  Common  opal 
in  small  masses  of  a  greenish  and  yellowish-white  color,  with 
vitreous  lustre,  is  found  at  Cornwall,  Lebanon  County,  Pa.,  also 
at  Aguas  Calientes,  Gilson  Gulch,  Idaho  Springs,  Col.,  of  a 

OPAL 


rt 

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COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

J 

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H 

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9 

Prismatic  (Fire  opal). 

Washington  Co.,  Ga. 

91-89 

1-40 

0'02 

5-84 

G.  J.  Brush.1 

1  G.  J.  Brush,  Dana,  Mineralogy,  sth  Ed.  p.  200. 

brownish  color  in  narrow  seams  in  the  granite.  J.  W.  Beath 
of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  states  that  he  had  seen  fine  opal  specimens 
showing  play  of  colors,  reported  to  have  come  from  the  latter 
place.  William  P.  Blake  '  writes  that  a  rich  white  variety  of  opal 
is  found  at  Mokelumne  Hill,  Calaveras  County,  Cal. ;  and  on  the 
elevation  near  that  place  known  as  Stockton  Hill,  on  the  west  side 
of  Chile  Gulch,  a  shaft  had  been  sunk  345  feet,  and  opals  were 
found  there  in  a  thin  stratum  of  red  gravel  varying  from  the  size 
of  a  kernel  of  corn  to  that  of  a  walnut,  and  many  of  them  con- 
taining dendritic  infiltrations  of  oxide  of  manganese  resembling 
moss.  These  stones  were  erroneously  supposed  to  have  consid- 
erable market  value,  and  in  1 866  about  a  bushel  of  them  were 
raised  to  the  surface  in  a  day.  A  milky  variety,  similar  to  the 
above  and  without  fire,  is  found  with  magnesite  on  Mount  Diablo, 
Cal.,  thirty  miles  south  of  the  mountain ;  also  in  the  foothills  of 
the  Sierra  at  the  Four  Creeks.  Yellow  fire  opals  in  small  nodules 
not  over  an  inch  in  diameter,  from  Mount  Pleasant,  Bergen 

1  Catalogue  of  California  Minerals  (1866)  p.  18. 


144  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

Hill,  N.  J.,1  were  described  by  the  writer.  Common  opal  has  been 
found  at  Sheffield,  Mass.  Semi-opal  is  found  together  with  chal- 
cedony at  the  Los  Pinos  Agency  and  in  trachyte  north  of  Sagua- 
che  Creek,  Col.,  and  coating  agate,  in  Pima  County,  Ariz.,  and 
also  at  other  localities  in  the  United  States.  Nodules  from  i  to 
4  inches  in  diameter,  consisting  of  dead-white  fire-opal  filled  with 
dendritic  moss-like  markings  of  beautiful  moss-opal  are  found  in 
South  Park,  Col.  A  fine  moss-opal,  in  pieces  3  to  4  inches 
across,  is  also  found  in  Trego  County,  Kan.  A  white  opaque 
variety  of  hydrophane,  in  rounded  lumps,  from  5  millimeters  to  25 
millimeters  (|  to  i  inch)  in  diameter,  with  a  white,  chalky  or  glazed 
coating,  somewhat  resembling  the  cacholong  from  Washington 
County,  Ga.,  has  recently  been  brought  from  Colorado.  It  is 
quite  remarkable  for  its  power  of  absorbing  liquid.  When  water 
is  allowed  to  drop  slowly  on  it,  it  first  becomes  very  white  and 
chalky,  and  then,  gradually,  perfectly  transparent.  This  property 
is  developed  so  strikingly  that  the  finder  has  proposed  for  it  the 
name  "  Magic  Stone,"  and  has  suggested  its  use  in  rings,  lockets, 
charms,  etc.,  to  conceal  photographs,  hair,  or  other  objects  which 
the  wearer  wishes  to  reveal  only  when  his  caprice  dictates.  Speci- 
mens were  examined  by  Prof.  Arthur  H.  Church  of  Kew,  Eng- 
land, and  he  proved  that  the  volumes  of  the  dry  and  the  wet 
mineral  were  identical  by  weighing  the  bulk  of  mercury  displaced 
in  both  instances.  His  experiments  were  made  in  a  small,  flat- 
bottomed  glass  cup  having  a  polished  edge  and  accurately  covered 
with  a  smooth  glass  plate.  The  mean  weight  of  mercury  dis- 
placed in  five  concordant  experiments  was  7*415  grams,  which 
figure,  corrected  for  temperature,  showed  the  specific  gravity  of  the 
hydrophane  was,  when  dry,  1*056,  when  wet,  1*545.  The  increase 
in  specific  gravity  is  due  to  the  replacement  of  the  original  inter- 
stitial air  of  the  mineral  by  water.  From  the  above  calculations  it 
is  further  determined  that  the  specific  gravity  of  the  opal,  free  from 
air,  is  2*14.  The  wet  opal  contained  47*75  per  cent,  by  weight  of 
water,  and  52*25  per  cent,  by  weight  of  silicic  hydrate;  hence 
the  mineral  absorbed  rather  less  than  half  its  bulk  of  water.  The 
specific  gravity  of  several  specimens  furnished  the  writer  *  the  fol- 

1  Trans.  N.  Y.  Acad.  Sci.,  Nov.,  1888. 

*  Am.  J.  Sci.,  III.,  Vol.  34,  p.  479,  Dec.,  1887. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  145 

lowing  results :  Nos.  1-3  were  slabs  2  millimeters  thick  (TV  inch), 
No.  4  was  a  natural  lump  with  glazed  coating.  This  stone  is  iden- 
tical with  one  brought  from  China,  several  centuries  ago,  and  de- 
scribed by  De  Boot,  DeLaet,  Boyle,  and  others,  as  the  Oculus 
Mundi,  or  World's  Eye,  and  as  the  Lapis  Mutabilis.  When  wet,  it 
became  entirely  transparent,  except  a  central  nucleus,  possibly  a 
core  of  chalcedony,  that  remained  white.  If  the  central  core  was 
black,  evidently  oxide  of  manganese,  the  stone  was  called  Oculus 
Beli.  Hoffmann  mentions  opalized  wood  in  magnificent  colors 
at  San  Antonio,  Nye  County,  Nev.,  and  states  that  on  breaking 
some  of  the  large  trunks  fine  specimens  were  obtained.  Fine  large 
sections  of  trees  altered  to  wood  opal  are  found  at  Buena  Vista, 
Col.  The  color  varies  from  white  to  brown,  and  the  structure 
of  the  wood  is  preserved.  In  the  hydraulic  mines  of  California, 


WEIGHT  SPECIFIC 

(IN  WATER).          GRAVITY. 


1  '880  I  '342  "462  '463  2'  no 

2  "644  -934  -290  -3385  2-091 

3  730  1-109  -379  -382  2-097 

4  i'8745  l'°S9S  '864  2-191 


and  at  Murphey's  in  the  same  State,  large  and  very  beautiful 
masses  of  opalized  wood,  of  fine  brown,  yellow,  and  black  colors, 
have  frequently  been  found. 

Hyalite,  or  Muller's  Glass,  as  it  is  called,  occurs  on  the  trap- 
rock  at  Weehawken  and  Orange,  N.  J.  ;  with  chalcedony  at  sev- 
eral localities  in  Yavapai  County,  Ariz.  ;  at  the  Philips  ore  bed, 
Putnam  County  ;  with  cachalong  at  Bellvale,  Orange  County, 
N.  Y.;  in  Burke  County,  N.  C.,  and  Screven  County,  Ga.;  in  yel- 
low fluorescent  coating  upon  gneiss  at  Frankford,  Pa.  ;  at  Avon- 
dale,  Delaware  County,  Pa.,  in  bluish-green  ;  on  the  Wissa- 
hickon  River  in  Pennsylvania  ;  at  Concord,  Cabarrus  County, 
and  at  the  Culsagee  Mine,  Macon  County,  N.  C.  Associ- 
ated with  semi-opal,  it  is  mentioned  as  occurring  in  the  Mount 
Diablo  Range  about  thirty  miles  south  of  Mount  Diablo.  It  has 
also  been  found  at  Volcano  Pass,  Larimer  County,  Col.  At  none 
of  these  places,  however,  is  it  found  in  masses  thick  enough  to  af- 
ford even  a  mineralogical  gem,  and  commercially  it  has  no  value. 

During  the  survey  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  in  1872, 
by  Dr.  Ferdinand  V.  Hayden,  United  States  Geologist,  a  large 


146  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES 

number  of  geyserites  and  kieselsinter  were  collected  by  different 
members  of  the  party.  Some  of  these  specimens  resemble  the 
kieselsinter  from  Iceland,  but  in  their  general  character  they  dif- 
fer from  anything  heretofore  found.  The  analyses  show  but  lit- 
tle variation  from  those  of  other  localities.  Near  the  cone  of  the 
Giant  Geyser,  on  the  upper  Geyser  Basin  of  Fire  Hole  River,  Dr. 
Albert  C.  Peale,  assistant  geologist  to  Doctor  Hayden's  survey, 
found  near  the  base  of  the  crater,  apparently  running  through  in 
nearly  horizontal  layers,  a  peculiar  variety  of  geyserite,  similar  in 
some  respects  to  the  opal,  which  was  named  "  pealite  "  after  the 
discoverer.  It  occurs  in  irregular  tablets,  sometimes  with  scal- 
loped surfaces.  It  is  claimed  that  the  position  taken  by  this 
mineral,  between  quartz  and  opal,  according  to  its  chemical  and 
physical  characters,  and  the  variance  it  shows  from  other  geyser- 
ites and  kieselsinter,  justifies  its  distinction  from  them  by  a  spe- 
cific name.  Although  some  specimens  closely  resemble  semi-opal, 
it  seems  improbable  that  opal  could  be  formed  in  the  same  way. 
They  might  well  be  used  for  small,  odd  ornaments,  mounted  as 
they  are  found,  without  any  cutting. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


Spodumene    (Hiddenite),   Smaragdite,   Diopside,   Rhodonite,   Enstatite    and    Bronzite, 

Wollastonite,  Crocidolite,  Willemite,  Vesuvianite,  Allanite,  Gadolinite,  Epidote, 

Zoisite,  Axinite,  Danburite,   lolite,   Lepidolite,  Scapolite,  Cancrinite, 

Sodalite,  Elseolite,  Lapis  Lazuli. 


I 


TRANSPARENT  spodumene  has  been  found  in  two  lo- 
calities in  the  United  States,  the  variety  hiddenite  or 
"  lithia  emerald,"  at  Stony  Point,  Alexander  County, 
N.  C.,  and  an  amethystine  colored  variety  at  Branch- 
ville,  Conn.  The  only  variety  that  has  gem  value  is  that  from 
North  Carolina.  (For  a  history  of  the  locality,  see  Emerald.) 
About  1879,  some  crystals  of  yellow  and  yellowish-green  mineral, 
supposed  to  be  diopside,  were  found  at  Stony  Point,  Alexander 
County,  N.  C.,  associated  with  beryl,  quartz,  rutile,  garnet,  dolo- 
mite, etc.  Shortly  after  their  discovery,  these  crystals  came  into 
the  hands  of  J.  A.  D.  Stephenson  of  Statesville,  N.  C.,  who  sent 
the  best  of  them  to  Norman  Spang  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  About 
two  years  later  Mr.  Stephenson  called  the  attention  of  William 
E.  Hidden  to  this  mineral,  and  to  the  locality  ;  Mr.  Hidden  then 
sent  specimens  for  examination  to  Dr.  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  who 
immediately  discovered  that  the  mineral  was  not  diopside  but  a 
transparent  variety  of  spodumene.  The  crystals  were  first  found 
loose  in  the  soil  with  emeralds,  but  systematic  mining  revealed 
them  in  attached  veins  of  the  walls  of  the  rock.  The  spodu- 
mene is  generally  more  or  less  altered,  hence  its  pitted  or 
eaten-out  appearance ;  but  when  found  in  the  rock,  the  crystals 
are  quite  perfect  and  unchanged.  The  mineral,  which  is  always 


148  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

transparent,  ranges  from  colorless  (rare),  to  a  light  yellow,  into 
yellowish-green,  then  into  deep  yellow  emerald-green.  Sometimes 
an  entire  crystal  has  a  uniform  green  color,  but  generally  one  end 
is  yellow  and  the  other  green.  Its  hardness  is  on  the  prism  faces, 
6*5,  and  across  them,  according  to  Doctor  Smith,  nearly  that  of 
the  emerald ;  but  a  series  of  experiments  proved  it  to  be  some- 
what less.  At  first  considerable  difficulty  was  experienced  in 
cutting  it,  owing  to  its  remarkably  perfect  prismatic  cleavage, 
which  is  very  lustrous.  Gems  have,  however,  been  cut  up  to  2\ 
carats  in  weight.  Specific  gravity,  3*18  to  3*194. 

The  yellow  color  exhibited  by  the  mineral  in  even  the  dark- 
est green  gems  will  prevent  it  from  competing  with  the  emerald, 
since  it  is  this  very  quality  that  has  kept  down  the  prices  of  the 
Siberian  demantoids,  or  Uralian  emeralds,  as  the  green  garnets 
are  variously  termed.  The  finest  crystal  of  lithia-emerald  ever 
found  is  in  the  Bement  Collection.  (See  Colored  Plate, 
No.  5.)  It  measures  2|  inches  (68  millimeters)  by  £  inch  (14 
millimeters)  by  \  inch  (8  millimeters).  One  end  is  of  very  fine 
color,  and  would  afford  the  largest  gem  yet  cut  from  this  mineral, 
weighing  perhaps  5^  carats.  In  Dr.  Augustus  C.  Hamlin's  cabi- 
net is  a  fine  gem  weighing  about  2  carats,  and  a  cut  stone  of  fine 
color  and  a  good  crystal  are  in  the  collection  of  Col.  W.  A. 
Roebling.  Dr.  J.  Lawrence  Smith  l  says  that  the  crystals,  when 
cut  and  polished,  resemble  the  emerald  in  lustre,  though  the  color 
is  not  so  intense  as  in  the  finer  variety  of  the  latter  gem.  Prof. 
Edward  S.  Dana  says  that,  owing  to  its  dichroism,  it  has  a  peculiar 
brilliancy  which  is  wanting  in  the  true  emerald.  Thomas  T.  Bouve, 
of  Boston  says :  "  One  might  infer  from  the  statement  made  of  the 
greater  brilliancy  of  both  the  hiddenite  and  garnet,  when  com- 
pared with  the  emerald,  that  this  should  decide  their  relative 
beauty ;  but  it  is  not  the  case,  for  the  emerald  has  a  beauty  of  its 
own,  in  its  deep  and  rich  shade  of  color,  that  will  ever  make  it 
rank  at  least  an  equal  in  loveliness  with  the  newer  aspirants  for 
favor."1  When  the  gem  was  first  introduced,  it  had  a  consider- 
able sale  because  of  its  novelty  as  an  American  gem  and  because 
of  the  newspaper  notoriety  it  gained  through  the  controversy 

»  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  21,  p.  128,  Feb.,  1881. 

8  Proc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  His.,Vol.  23,  p.  2,  Jan.  2,  1884. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


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.* 

LOCALITY. 

Alexander  Co.,  N.  C  
Alexander  Co.,  N.  C  
Norwich,  Mass  
Goshen,  Mass  
Chesterfield  Hollow,  Mass 

Sterling,  Mass  
Branchville,  Conn  

ci-  (3),  23.  68  (Hiddenite). 
•a.  J.  Sci.  (3),  21,  128  (Hiddenite 
trog.  Mittheil,  1878,  1.,  517.  An 

COLOR. 

t  Mi; 

b      ;  •? 

a     •  £s   • 

W       'O       • 

\  \  i 

M  •<  8. 

7|j 

.  M  ii 

o   g   S 

•    •         .2 

-  r" 

-5-2  :::::: 

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»  ^        o 

'o. 
H 

150 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 


that  arose  as  to  its  discovery.  Hence  for  a  time  the  demand 
exceeded  the  supply,  which,  from  the  desultory  working  of  the 
mine,  was  limited.  Thus  a  2%  carat  stone  was  sold  for  $500,  and 
a  number  of  stones  brought  from  $40  to  over  $100  a  carat. 
The  total  sale  of  all  the  gems  found,  from  the  beginning  of  oper- 
ations in  August,  1880,  to  the  close  of  1888,  amounted  to  about 
$7,500,  the  yield  in  1882,  during  which  the  preparatory  work 
was  done,  being  about  $2,000.  At  the  time  of  the  discovery, 
this  was  supposed  to  be  the  first  occurrence  of  transparent  spodu- 
mene :  but  Pisani,  in  the  Comptes  Rendus  for  1877,  announced 
a  transparent  yellow  spodumene  that  had  been  found  at  Minas 
Geraes,  Brazil,  where  it  exists  in  large  quantities  and  has  been 
extensively  sold  as  chrysoberyl.  The  writer  saw  nearly  a  ton  of 
broken  crystals  of  this  mineral  atldar,  Germany,  in  1881,  whither 
it  had  been  sent  for  cutting.  A  stone  from  Brazil  weighing 
i  carat  is  in  the  United  States  National  Museum,  as  also  a  series 
of  crystals  and  cut  stones  from  North  Carolina.  At  Branchville, 
Conn.,  spodumene  is  found  in  crystals 4  or  5  feet  long  and  afoot 
in  diameter,  almost  entirely  altered  to  other  minerals.  In  spots, 
however,  it  is  transparent  enough  to  furnish  small  gems  of  an 
amethystine  color.  The  alterations  which  have  taken  place  have 
entirely  changed  it  to  what  might  almost  be  called  a  defunct 
gem ;  otherwise,  this  material  would  have  afforded  gems  over 
an  inch  in  thickness  and  several  inches  in  length.  The  color  be- 
fore the  alteration  was  probably  much  richer  pink.1  It  is  of  min- 
eralogical  value  only. 

Smaragdite  is  believed  to  be  a  variety  of  hornblende,  and 
occurs  plentifully  at  Cullakenee  Mine,  Clay  County,  N.  C.  In 
color  it  is  bright  emerald,  grass-green,  also  grayish  and  greenish 

SMARAGDITE 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

j 
35 

i« 

a 

* 

Chromic 
Oxide. 

Ferrous 
Oxide. 

"oj  tj 
•JJ3 

2o 

L 

«"£ 

1 

1 
3 

a 

% 

in 

5 
I 

i 

Grass  green  .  . 
Light  green.. 

Cullakenee  Mine,  N.  C.1  
North  Carolina.3  

45-I4 
45'7° 

17*59 
24*01 

o'79 

0'52 

3>S 
456 

O°2I 

16-69 
8-03 

I2'SI 

I3'44 

2'25 

2*91 

0*36 

*'& 

o  60 

1  Hardness,  5-5 ;  Specific  Gravity,  3-12.    Analyst,  T.  M.  Chatard.    F.  A.  Genth,  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.,  1873,  Vol.  13,  361  to  407. 
3  Analyst,  J.  L.  Smith.    J.  L.  Smith,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  6, 184.    (Zoizite— Smith.    Smaragdite— Genth.) 

1  See  On   Spodumene   and   its   Alterations,  by   Alexis   A.  Julien,    Ann.,  N.  Y.    Acad.    Sci., 
Vol.  L,  p.  318,  1879. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA   AND    MEXICO 

gray.  Masses  through  which  the  pink  and  ruby  corundum  occur 
disseminated,  are  exceedingly  beautiful.  The  mineral  is  hard 
enough  to  admit  of  a  fine  polish  and  is  worthy  of  attention  as 
an  ornamental  or  decorative  stone. 

Diopside,  a  variety  of  pyroxene,  is  found  in  the  township  of  De 
Kalb,  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.,  as  short,  stout,  oily-green 
crystals,  in  color  resembling  the  crystals  from  Piedmont,  Ala. 
Parts  in  these  have  been  found  sufficiently  large  and  clear  to  be 
cut  into  gems  weighing  from  6  to  8  carats  each,  and  recently 
crystals  have  been  obtained  which  in  size  and  perfection  rival  any 
found  in  the  world ;  some  of  these  will  furnish  gems  of  12  to  15 
carats  each.  This  is  the  only  known  locality  in  the  United 

DIOPSIDE 


a 

COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

3 

s 
'§ 

Si 

E 

ia.2 

1 

rt 

55 

X 

&o 

5    ° 

J 

S, 

£ 

* 

St.  Lawrence  Co.,  N.  Y.1  

55*12 

0-40 

I-I2 

25-04 

18-15 

0-45 

O'O2 

O-I/ 

Blue,  large  crystals. 
Grayish  green  

Edenville,  Orange  Co.,  N.  Y.2 
New  Haven,  Conn.3  

55  'oi 
53  '"4 

i  '062 

4'95 
6-008 

0-598 

22'8o 

16-95 
14-50 

0-468 

0-36 
0-468 

i  Analyst,   E.  S.  Sperry.    This  analysis  was  made  by  Mr.  E.  S.  Sperry  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  S.  L.  Penfield,  in  connection 
with  some  work  for  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  and  is  published  with  the  consent  of  the  Director  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 
J  Specific  Gravity,  3'ao4.    Analyst,  Rammelsberg .    Kammelsberg,  Mineralchemie,  p.  386. 
'  Specific  Gravity,  3-137-3-394.    Analyst,  Geo.  T.  Bowen.    Geo.  T.  Bowen,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (i),  5,  344.— Var.  SAHLITE. 

States  where  this  gem  is  found.  At  Richville,  in  the  township 
of  De  Kalb,  some  very  large  crystals  were  found  in  1884,  several 
of  which  were  over  3  inches  long  and  i  inch  thick,  with  clear 
spots  of  gem  material  giving  promise  of  cut  gems  weighing  20 
to  30  carats  each.  The  crystals  generally  averaged  an  inch 
in  length.  Associated  with  the  garnets  of  Fort  Defiance, 
Ariz.,  Gallup,  N.  M.,  and  other  localities  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  and  in  the  detritus  resulting  from  the  decomposition  of 
the  peridotite  in  Elliott  County,  Ky.,  small  pieces  of  almost 
emerald-green  diopside  are  found,  evidently  a  chromium  diop- 
side  similar  to  that  found  with  South  African  diamonds.  They 
are  generally  too  small  to  afford  gems  of  any  value,  but  a  few 
pieces  have  been  found  that  are  of  sufficient  size  for  very  small 
gems. 

Rhodonite,  a  silicate  of  manganese,  has  been  found  in  an 
extensive  bed  at  Blue  Hill  Bay,  Me.,  on  Osgood's  Farm,  Mass., 
and  in  the  neighboring  towns;  in  Warwick,  Mass.;  in  Irasburgh 


152 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


and  Coventry,  Vt.;  near  Winchester  and  Hinsdale,  N.  H.;  and 
at  Cumberland,  R.  I.  The  Alice  Mine  at  Butte  City,  Mont.,  has 
produced  a  large  quantity  of  rhodonite  associated  with  rhodo- 
crosite,  which  has  been  used  to  some  extent  as  a  gem  stone. 
It  has  recently  been  described  by  Prof.  William  N.  Rice  as  occur- 
ring at  White  Rocks,  Middletown,  Conn.,  but  only  in  a  limited 
quantity. 

The  variety  of  rhodonite  known  as  fowlerite  has  been  found  at 
Franklin,  N.  J.,  in  groups  of  rich,  flesh-colored  crystals  finer  than 

RHODONITE 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

Theoretical 
Composition. 

LOCALITY, 
Sterling,  N.  J.* 

LOCALITY, 
Jackson  Co.,  N.  C." 

LOCALITY, 
Cumberland,  R.  I.' 

-  LOCALITY, 
Cumberland,  R.  I.* 

LOCALITY, 
Cummington,  Mass.* 

LOCALITY, 
Cummington,  Mass.* 

LOCALITY, 
Sterling,  N.  J.» 

Silica  

A  C'QO 

46*48 

26'22 

AI'iA 

4.8*7  C 

/i8*or 

C  T"?T 

Afi"7Cl 

Manganous  Oxide  

C/1'IO 

•5I-C2 

I  C'CA 

•W  34 

I  CMO 

7o-66 

4.6*  7  A. 

51   *l 
42*6  C 

1\"2.Q 

Ferrous  Oxide  

7*2'* 

6*44 

8*44. 

10*85 

A"iA 

8*ii* 

Manganic  Oxide  

•tt>'O7 

74.'  74. 

Peroxides    of    Iron   and 
Alumina  

7*O? 

4/6  C 

Zinc  Oxide  

5-8? 

vie 

Lime  

A-  CQ 

I-6-; 

A'O2 

621 

2'7C 

2'cn 

6"*o 

Magnesia  

TOO 

A.'  2  A. 

16*63 

O'QI 

2*O 

2*81 

Water  

I'O 

7'OA 

2*2** 

O*8o 

O*2& 

Carbonic  Acid  

I*7O 

Color  

Gray  Bl'ck 

Blue 

Light 

Hardness  

to  Black. 

V6 

Black. 
C'O 

Brown  Red 

Specific  Gravity  

3*66 

•j-6*; 

1  Typical   Analysis.     Dana     Mineralogy,     5th     Ed., 

p.  226.     Hermann. 
a,  8,  *  A.  H.  Chester,  Jahrb.    fur  Min.   1888,  Bd.  i, 

p.  187. 


6  Hermann,  Jour,  fiir  pr.  Ch.,  42,  6. 

6  A.  Schliefer,  Dana  Mineralogy,  sth  Ed.,  p.  226. 

7  Rammelsberg,  Mineral  Chemie  (1875),  p. 


394- 


ever  before  known,  some  of  them  being  6  or  7  inches  thick,  form- 
ing groups  a  foot  across.  Although  of  value  for  gem  material,  it 
possesses  higher  mineralogical  value.  More  than  $1,000  worth 
was  sold  for  specimens  during  the  year  of  its  discovery.  The 
rhodonite  of  Cummington,  Mass.,  of  the  richest  flesh  and  light 
red  color,  was  only  found  in  boulders  previous  to  1887,  when  it 
was  traced  to  the  ledge  by  W.  W.  Chapman.  Blocks  were  taken 
out  weighing  some  hundreds  of  pounds  each,  having  a  rich  pink 
and  red  color,  and  with  large  surfaces  entirely  free  from  streaks 
of  black  oxide  and  in  other  places  beautifully  mottled ;  they  were 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  153 

equal  in  quality  and  beauty  to  the  Russian  rhodonite,  which  is 
made  into  vases  and  also  table-tops  and  mantels.  This  material 
has  recently  been  used  very  effectively  in  combination  with  un- 
polished or  stone-finished  silver,  as  handles  for  very  fine  orna- 
ments, the  rose-color  streaked  with  black  affording  a  pleasing 
contrast.  Its  hardness  is  only  6*5,  but  it  is  nearly  as  tough  as 
jade.  In  Russia  it  is  largely  used  as  a  gem  and  ornamental  stone 
for  jewelry,  jewel  caskets,  tables,  mantels,  and  altars  and  pillars 
of  churches. 

Enstatite  and  bronzite  occur  in  many  localities  in  the  United 
States.  The  best  varieties  are  found  half  a  mile  west  of 
Texas,  Pa.,  in  beautiful  massive  foliated  varieties.  Bronzite 
was  observed  by  Prof.  Frederick  A.  Genth,  in  Pennsylvania, 
near  Crump's  serpentine  quarry  ;  near  Media,  in  Middletown  Town- 
ship ;  in  Marple  Township,  forming  the  mass  of  country  rock  ;  in 
Newtown  Township ;  and  near  Radnor,  Delaware  County. 
Bronzite  and  enstatite  are  also  found  in  large  quantities  at  Bare 
Hills,  near  Baltimore,  Md.  If  cut  across  the  fibres,  it  shows 
a  cat's-eye  effect,  but  it  is  not  fine  enough  to  furnish  gems 
for  commerce. 

A  very  interesting  form  of  wollastonite,  found  by  C.  D. 
Nimms  near  Bonaparte  Lake,  Lewis  County,  N.  Y.,  is  described 
by  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Penfield.  It  occurs  in  distinct  crystals  and  in 
all  gradations  to  the  fibrous  form,  and  varies  in  color  from  a  white 
to  a  faint  yellowish  pink.  It  has  nearly  the  toughness  and 
hardness  of  jadeite,  and  might  be  mistaken  for  Chinese  jade. 

Crocidolite  was  observed  by  Joseph  Wilcox  in  long, 
delicate  fibres  of  a  blue  color,  in  one  of  the  western  counties  of 
North  Carolina.  Theodore  D.  Rand  found  a  dark-bluish  fibrous 
mineral  at  the  Falls  of  the  Schuylkill,  and  T.  W.  Roepper  found 
it  at  Coopersburgh,  Lehigh  County,  Pa.,  associated  with  white  and 
brownish-white  garnet  and  bluish-white  crystalline  fibrous  coat- 
ings, which  may  belong  here.  It  also  occurs  at  Eland  Fountain, 
Orange  County,  N.  Y.  Prof.  Albert  H.  Chester,  of  Hamilton 
College,  published  analyses  of  the  crocidolite  from  Beacon  Hill 
Cumberland,  R.  I.,  a  very  interesting  variety  of  this  mineral 
though  not  in  gem  form.1  It  has  not  been  found  in  gem  form  in 

1  See  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  34,  p.  108,  Aug.,  1887. 


154 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


the  United  States.  The  altered  tiger-eye  variety  from  the 
Orange  River,  South  Africa,  has  been  sold  in  polished  specimens, 
charms,  umbrella  handles,  etc.,  at  Pike's  Peak  and  other  places 
as  domestic  crocidolite ;  it  is  also  extensively  sold  as  a  variety  of 
petrified  wood. 

Willemite  (anhydrous  silicate  of  zinc)  has  been  found  at 
Franklin,  N.  J.,  sufficiently  transparent  to  make  a  very  fair  gem. 
The  color  is  a  rich  honey-yellow,  in  shade  between  the  topaz  and 
the  chrysoberyl  from  Brazil,  having,  however,  the  vitreous  lus- 
tre of  the  Tavetsch  titanite.  One  crystal  furnished  a  number  of 
gems  over  8  carats  in  weight,  which  are  in  the  collection  of 
Frederick  A.  Canfield,  of  Dover,  N.  J.  This  mineral  is  gener- 


WILLEMITE 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

Theoretical 
Composition. 

LOCALITY, 
Sterling,  N.  J.1 

LOCALITY, 
Sterling,  N.  J.» 

LOCALITY, 
Sterling,  N.  J.s 

LOCALITY, 
Sterling,  N.  J.4 

j^ 

£fc 

3bZ 
SJ 

J5 

C/5 

LOCALITY, 
Sterling,  N.  J.« 

LOCALITY, 
Franklin,  N.  J.7 

Silica  

27-02 
72-98 

25-0 
7f33 

25-44 
68-06 

2680 
60-07 

27-91 
59-93 
5'35 

27^0 
66-83 
0'06 

27-92 

57-83 
0-62 

27-40 
68-83 
0-87 

Zinc  Oxide  

Ferric  Oxide  

0-67 

2-66 

}*5o 

Manganic  Peroxide 

Manganous  Oxide  

9'22 
2-91 

3'73 

1-66 
I  -60 

573 
trace 

12-59 
I-I4 

2-90 

Magnesia  

Lime              «  .  .               . 

Water        

ro 

Color  

Apple 
Green. 

4.'i6 

Honey 
Yellow. 

4-n 

Yellow. 

4.-I'?'; 

Soecific  Gravity.  . 

*,  a  Typical  Analysis,  Vanuxem  and  Keating.    Dana, 

Mineralogy,  5th  Ed.,  p.  263. 
1  Hermann,  Jour,  fiir  pr.  Ch.,  47,  n. 


4  Wurtz,  Proc.  Am.  Assn.  Adv.  Sci.  4,  147. 
*,  •  W.  G.  Mixter,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (2),  46,  230. 
1  Delesse,  Ann.  Min.  (4),  10,  214. 


ally  opaque  and  of  rich-brown  or  apple-green  color,  and  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  fine  transparent  material  of  these  shades  that 
will  cut  into  gems  may  yet  be  discovered. 

At  the  Franklin  (Sussex  County,  N.  J.)  zinc  mines,  zincite, 
yellow  and  yellowish-green  willemite,  and  black  franklinite  occur 
mingled  together  in  granular  crystals  not  over  £  inch  in  diameter. 
This  mixture,  as  well  as  the  brown  zinciferous  serpentine  from 
Franklin,  described  by  Prof.  Charles  U.  Shepard,  is  often 
ground  into  charms,  paper-weights,  and  similar  objects,  the  effect 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


155 


of  the  combination  being  very  pleasing,  although  it  does  not  ad- 
mit of  a  high  polish. 

Vesuvianite  or  idocrase  that  would  yield  small  gems  has  been 
found  at  Phippsburgh,  Me.  A  beautiful  wine-colored  variety  is 
mentioned  as  occurring  near  Hope,  Bucks  County,  Pa.  About  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  Sanford,  Me.,  idocrase  occurs  in  unlimited 
quantities,  one  ledge,  fully  30  feet  wide,  being  made  up  entirely  of 
massive  idocrase,  associated  with  quartz  and  occasionally  with  cal- 
cite,  which  fills  the  cavities  containing  the  crystals.  Some  of  the 
crystals  are  7  inches  long,  and  occasionally  the  smaller  ones  would 
afford  fair  gems,  Idocrase  is  mentioned  by  Dr.  Frederic  M. 

VESUVIANITE 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

Theoretical 
Composition 

LOCALITY, 
Sandford,  Me. 
Analyst, 
Rammelsberg.  * 

LOCALITY, 
Amity,  N.  Y. 
Analyst, 
Thomson.2 

LOCALITY, 
Santa  Clara,  Cal. 
Analyst, 
Smith.3 

LOCALITY, 
Newbury,  Mass. 
Analyst, 
Greefy.< 

Silica  

^8-4. 

17'64. 

•JC'OQ 

i6-<;6 

•3C'Q7 

Alumina  

I7M 

I  C-ftA. 

\T  A  -I 

17'OA 

1  A"T7 

Ferric  Oxide  

6'O7 

6-17 

C'Q-3 

Ferrous  Oxide  . 
Manganous  Oxide.  . 
Lime.  

6-2 

•?8-o 

iY'86 

2'8o 

iro8 

O'l8 

•JC'Q/1 

8-9I 

trace 

^Q'J.6 

2'O6 

2'O 

I'O7 

O'l  3 

Potassa  

O'CI 

n'AA 

Soda  

o"*6 

Water  

1-68 

2'O 

Titanic  Oxide  

2'd.O 

Phosphoric  Acid  — 
Color  





trace 

Hardness  

6-0 

Specific  Gravity  



3*43 



3'45 

3'55 

1  C.  F.  Rammelsberg,  Pogg.  Ann.,  04,  p.  92. 

•ITT C* !^tT        AT      r«      •       /     \ .       A 


1  C.  *.  Kammelsberg,  i'ogg.  Ann.,  94,  p.  92.  »  T.  Ihomson,  Mineralogy,  vol.  I.,  p.  143. 

3  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  Am.  I.  Sci.  (3),  8, 434.     Ann.  de  Chim.  III.,  428,  1874.     Comptes  Rendus,  79, 813, 1874. 
*  James  T.  Greely,  Technology  Quarterly,  May,  1888. 

Endlich  as  occurring  in  large  crystals  on  Mount  Italia,  Col.,  and 
north  of  the  Arkansas  River,  in  granite.  This  mineral,  which 
was  named  vesuvianite  by  mineralogists,  from  the  fact  that 
it  was  first  found  in  the  lava  at  Vesuvius,  splendidly  crystallized, 
is  sold  by  Neapolitan  jewlers,  and  used  to  make  the  letters  I  and 
V  in  the  manufacture  of  initial  pieces  of  jewelry,  in  which  some 
word  or  sentiment  is  spelled  out,  the  initial  of  each  letter  being 
represented  by  a  precious  stone.  Near  Amity,  Orange  County, 
N.  Y.,  is  found  a  dark  yellowish-brown  variety,  which,  on  the 
supposition  of  its  being  a  new  mineral,  was  named  xanthite  by 
Doctor  Thompson ;  it  has  been  found  transparent  enough  to  cut 


156  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

into  small  gems,  that  would  serve  as  initial  stones  for  the  letter  X 
in  jewelry. 

The  allanite  found  in  large  masses  and  crystals  in  Amherst 
County,  Va.,  is  very  compact  and  bright  black  in  color.  It  would 
furnish  a  metallic  black  gem,  which,  however,  would  be  of  little  or 
no  value. 

A  large  quantity  of  gadolinite  has  recently  been  found  in 
Llano  County,  Tex.  It  is  very  compact,  of  deep  velvet-black 
color,  and  furnishes  a  stone  about  the  color  of  schorlomite. 

Epidote  is  found  in  many  places  in  the  United  States,  and 
in  very  large  crystals.  It  ranges  from  brown  to  green  in  color, 
and  is  generally  translucent  or  semi-opaque,  except  in  very 
small  crystals.  Fine  crystals  have  been  found  at  Haddam, 
Conn.,  which  might  yield  small  gems.  The  large  crystals  found 
in  quartz  at  Warren,  N.  H.,  were  all  too  opaque  for  gems,  yet 
were  fine  as  cabinet  specimens.  At  Roseville,  in  Byram  Town- 
ship, Sussex  County,  N.  J.,  epidote  was  formerly  found  in  good 
crystals  of  deep  green  that  would  afford  small  gems  of  little 
value.  The  principal  localities  in  Chester  County,  Pa.,  are  West 
Bradford  Township  ;  East  Bradford,  where  dark-green  specimens 
occur;  and  West  Goshen.  In  East  Marlborough  and  Kennett 
Townships  it  occurs  in  yellowish-green  crystals ;  in  the  limestone 
quarries  of  London  Grove  and  Sadsbury  Townships,  in  bottle- 
green  crystals.  Prof.  Frederick  A.  Genth  mentions  l  a  crystal  of 
epidote  in  the  cabinet  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  from 
the  gold  washings  of  Rutherford  County,  N.  C.  This  crystal  is 
strongly  pleochroic,  like  the  so-called  puschkinite  from  the  auri- 
ferous sands  of  Ekaterinburg,  in  the  Ural  Mountains,  and  would 
cut  into  a  small  gem.  Some  fine,  highly  complex  forms  have 
been  observed  at  Hampton's,  Yancey  County,  N.  C.,  by  William 
E.  Hidden.  These  crystals  might  possibly  afford  cabinet  gems, 
not  so  fine,  however,  as  the  Tyrolese  epidote.  In  November, 
1888,  Dr.  C.  D.  Smith  sent  the  writer  several  dozen  crystals  of 
epidote  from  a  place  one  mile  from  Rabun  Gap,  Rabun  County, 
Ga.,  that  are  as  fine  in  color,  transparency,  and  habit  as  those 
from  the  famous  Untersultzbachthal  Tyrol  locality.  None  were 
over  an  inch  in  length,  but  it  is  believed  that  proper  working  might 

Minerals  and  Mineral  Localities  of  North  Carolina,  Raleigh,  p.  44,  1881. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


157 


develop  as  large  crystals  as  those  from  the  Tyrol,  since  they  show 
the  pleochrism  beautifully,  their  color  changing,  as  viewed  in  dif- 
ferent directions  through  the  prism,  from  dark  grass-green  to  a 
rich  yellow-green. 


EPIDOTE 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

LOCALITY 
Rowe,  Mass. 
Analyst, 
A.  G.  Dana.i 
Typical  Analysis. 

>  5       o 

f-  £  ^"5 

ilf 

>V«i 

LOCALITY 
Williamsburgh,  Mass. 
Analyst, 
Thomson.3 

LOCALITY 
Polk  Co.,  Tenn. 
Analyst, 
F.  A.  Genth.* 

LOCALITY 
Polk  Co.,  Tenn. 
Analyst, 
Trippel.4 

ft! 

S  to 

.5  *• 

Silica  

38-  1  8 

•*8*2-? 

4O*2I 

4O*O4 

4V2O 

•JO'74 

Alumina  

24*  1*7 

2A'66 

25'CQ 

W6l 

<j,J    SAJ 

2Q*OO 

2r**r* 

Ferric  Oxide  

1  2'  1  6 

12*24. 

2-28 

2-88 

I  ?'2Q 

Ferrous  Oxide  

7-68 

Manganous  Oxide  

o-i;7 

O*C7 

trace 

O'lO 

Copper  Oxide  

0*24. 

Lime  

21*64 

21*1:4. 

2T28 

2C/II 

22*72 

22*7C 

Magnesia  

O'I2 

0*14. 

1*71 

trace 

o*t;6 

•'  /  > 

O'DI 

Potassa  and  Soda  

O"*7 

O"*7 

Water  

2*1,5 

2'17 

O*7I 

0*26 

Color  

Grayish 

Grayish 
Green. 

Gray  to 
Bluish   White. 

Specific  Gravity  

V*14 

3'7Q 

i   •"  A.  G.  Dana,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  20,  455.  «,  s  Am.  I.  Sci.  (2),  33,  107. 

'Thomson,  Nicol's  Man.  of  Min.  (1849),  p.  237.  •  J.  W.  Mallett,  Chem.  News  (1881),  44,  189. 

Zoisite  is  a  silicate  of  alumina  containing  from  2  to  9  per 
cent,  of  oxide  of  iron.  Its  quality,  as  found  in  the  United  States, 
has  not  been  such  as  to  adapt  it  for  use  as  a  gem.  Some  beauti- 
ful specimens  of  yellowish-brown  and  greenish-gray  crystals  have 
been  found  at  the  Ducktown,  Tenn.,  Copper  Mines.  The  rose- 
red  or  thulite  variety  has  been  found  at  Deshong's  Quarry,  Del- 
aware County,  Pa.,  but  this  is  not  as  handsome  or  as  compact  as 
the  beautiful  rose-red  variety  which  occurs  in  considerable  quanti- 
ties at  Trondhjem,  Norway,  some  of  which  has  been  used  for 
ornamental  purposes. 

No  crystals  of  axinite  have  been  found  in  this  country  of 
sufficient  size  to  furnish  gems.  It  has  been  observed  near  Beth- 
lehem, Pa.,  at  Cold  Spring,  N.  Y.,  and  associated  with  essonite 
and  idocrase  at  Phippsburg  and  Wales,  Me.  The  first-named 
locality,  discovered  by  Prof.  Frederick  Prime,  Jr.,  is  in  North- 
ampton County,  about  three  miles  north  of  Bethlehem.  Speci- 
mens from  this  place  have  been  examined  by  Prof.  Benjamin  W. 


158 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 


Frazier,1  who  published  his  results.  The  crystals  here  are  found 
in  a  rock  containing  crystalline  hornblende,  apparently  mixed  in- 
timately with  the  axinite,  and  also  traversed  by  numerous  narrow 
veins  of  that  mineral.  He  says :  "  Some  of  the  crystals  are 
colorless,  others  and  the  crystalline  variety  which  fills  the  veins 
have  a  pale  brown  color."  In  some  cases  this  is  chiefly  superfi- 
cial from  the  presence  of  a  thin  brown  incrustation  which  occurs 
at  times  in  minute  globular  concretions  and  again  in  dendritic 
forms.  The  lustre  of  the  crystals,  which  in  size  reach  a  length  of 

DANBURITE 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

Theoretical 
Composition. 

LOCALITY, 
Russell,  N.  Y.1 

LOCALITY, 
Russell,  N.  Y.» 

LOCALITY, 
Danbury,  Conn.3 

LOCALITY, 
Danbury,  Conn.4 

LOCALITY, 
Danbury,  Conn.6 

Silica  

48'QO 

48-23 

4Q-7O 

56'OO 

48-10 

48'2O 

Alumina  

| 

) 

)5 

| 

i  -02 

Ferric  Oxide  

\     0'47 

V     I  -O2 

\     170 

j.     0-30 

Manganous  Oxide  

0-56 

Lime  

22-7O 

2V24 

23-26 

28-33 

22'4I 

22-33 

28-40 

26'Q3 

25-80 

27-73 

27-15 

Ytthia  

0-85 

Water  

8-00 

0-40 

undet. 

5-12 

Yellow. 

Yellow. 

Honey  Y'llow 

Yellow. 

Yellow. 

Hardness  

7-50 

Soecific  Gravity.  . 

2-8^ 

1  Typical  Analysis.     Analyst,  Comstock.     See  G.  J.        3  Analyst, _Chas.  U.  Shepard.     See  Nicol's  Manual  of 

Brush  and  E.  S.  Dana,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  20,  in.  Mineralogy  (1849),  p.  170. 

"  Analyst,   J.   E.   Whitfield.     See  Am.   J.    Sci.    (3),        4,  &  Analysts,   J.   L.    Smith    and    G.  J.  Brush.     See 

Am.  J.  Sci.  (2),  16,  365. 


34. 


i  of  an  inch,  varies ;  some  are  dull,  some  highly  brilliant. 
Specimens  from  Dauphin,  France,  and  Scopi,  Switzerland,  are 
occasionally  cut  into  beautiful  stone-brown  gems,  but  for  gem 
collections  only. 

Danburite  *  has  been  found  in  the  largest  known  crystals  and 
in  considerable  abundance  at  Russell,  N.  Y.,but  only  occasionally 
are  the  crystals  clear  enough  to  cut  into  gems.  Its  hardness  is  7 
to  7*25,  its  color  usually  either  wine-colored,  honey-yellow,  or 
yellowish  brown.  Some  of  the  crystals  observed  are  6  inches 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  24,  p.  439,  Dec.,  1882. 
s  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  20,  p.  in,  Aug.,  1880. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


long  and  2  inches  in  diameter,  but  they  are  less  beautiful  than 
the  small,  colorless  ones  from  Scopi,  Switzerland.1  The  original 
locality,  Danbury,  Conn.,  never  furnished  any  gems. 

lolite  occurs  at  Haddam,  Conn.,  in  crystals  occasionally  5 
inches  across,  which  are  often  dark  blue  and  sufficiently  clear  for 
cutting  as  gems.  Dr.  John  Torrey  possessed  a  fine  seal  made 
of  a  cube  of  iolite  from  the  albite  granite  of  Haddam,  Conn.,  which 
displayed  to  the  greatest  perfection  its  dichroitic  properties,  being 
blue  when  viewed  in  one  direction,  and  white  when  viewed  in  the 
other,  the  blue  being  remarkably  fine.  This  locality  promised 
well,  but  the  supply  of  gem  material  has  been  scant.  An  iolite- 
gneiss  has  recently  been  noticed  by  Edmund  O.  Hovey,  at  Guil- 

IOLITE 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

33 

Alumina. 

Magnesia. 

g-S 

si 

si 

°3  v 
&•"§ 
So 

Ferrous 
Oxide. 

•E! 

too 

I 
3 

1 

Blue  

Unity,   Maine  *  .  . 

4*?-ii 

O'28 

28"72 

8-64 

>  

«  ' 

Blue  

Haddam,  Conn  3 

4.8"*=; 

•  ... 

Blue  

Richmond,  N.  H.*  

48  'CO 

15'CO 

lO'OO 

I'OO 

Blue  

Brimfield,  Mass.6...., 

5-60 

i-6« 

1  Analyst,  C.  T.  Jackson.    C.  T.  Jackson,  Final  Rep.  Geol.  of  N.  H.,  p.  184;  Dana,  Min.  184$,  406. 

»  Analyst,  Thomson.    Thomson,  Mineralogy,  I.,  278. 

*. «  Analyst,  C.  T.  Jackson.    C.  T.  Jackson,  Final  Rep.,  Geol.  of  N.  H.,  p.  184. 

5  Analyst,  L.  C.  Beck.    Nat.  Hist,  of  New  York  Mineralogy,  by  L.  C.  Beck,  p.  451, 1841. 

ford,  Conn.'  It  was  found  near  the  Norwich  and  Worcester 
Railroad,  between  the  Shetucket  and  Quinebaug  Rivers,  where  the 
gneiss  has  been  quarried  for  the  road.  At  Brimfield,  Mass.,  on 
the  road  leading  to  Warren,  it  occurs  with  andalusite  in  gneiss, 
and  likewise  near  Norwich,  Conn.  It  is  also  found  at  Richmond, 
N.  H.,  with  anthophyllite  in  a  talcose  rock.  In  the  author's  col- 
lection, there  is  a  crystal  of  this  mineral,  found  at  Fort  George, 
Manhattan  Island,  which  is  almost  entirely  altered  to  pinite,  an 
alteration  common  to  nearly  all  the  crystals  that  were  formerly 
found  at  Haddam,  Conn. 

Lepidolite  is  a  mica  containing  lithia.       Beautiful  pink  and 
lavender  colored  lepidolite  has  been  found  in  large  quantities  at 

1  Danburite   from   Switzerland.       Am.  J.  Sci.   III.,  Vol.  24,  p.  476,  Dec.,    1882  ;  also,  Vol. 
25,  p.  161,  Feb.,  1883. 

*  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.   36,  p.  57,  Oct.,  1888. 


l6o  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

Mount  Mica,  Paris,  Me.,  in  masses  of  50  to  290  pounds  ;  at  Heb- 
ron and  Norway,  more  recently  at  Auburn,  and  also  at  Mount 
Black,  Rumford,  Me.,  ranging  from  rose-pink  through  a  variety 
of  shades  of  pink-lavender  to  heliotrope  color.  As  this  mineral  is 
used  abroad  to  some  extent  for  ornaments,  such  as  dishes,  vases, 
paper-weights,  etc.,  the  similar  utilization  of  the  American  variety 
is  suggested.  This  variety,  like  the  lepidolite  of  Rozena,  Mora- 
via, contains  crystals  of  rubellite.  At  Rumford  the  association  is 
almost  identical  and  the  mixture  can  be  as  easily  polished  or 
worked  as  the  former. 

Pink,  lavender,  and  purple  scapolite,  in  compact  masses  3  or  4 
inches  square,  is  found  at  Bolton,  Mass.,  that  will  polish  nicely 
and  form  a  neat  ornamental  stone. 

Cancrinite,  sodalite,  and  elaeolite  are  occasionally  fine  enough 
to  be  used  as  gems  and  ornamental  stones.  These  minerals  are 
found  at  Litchfield  and  South  Litchfield,  Me.,  in  boulders  varying 
in  weight  from  a  few  pounds  to  many  tons,  that  lie  scattered  over 
the  ground  fora  distance  of  about  four  miles.  One  mile  and  a  half 
west  of  this  line,  across  a  pond  in  West  Gardner,  these  minerals 
are  found  associated  with  zircon,  as  in  South  Litchfield.  In 
West  Gardner  are  ledges  of  rocks  which  are  believed  to  be  the 
source  of  these  boulders.  The  color  of  cancrinite  varies  from 
bright  orange-yellow  to  pale  yellow.  There  are  three  distinct 
types  of  this  mineral,  the  bright  orange-yellow,  cleavable  and 
transparent,  in  thin  fragments ;  the  pale  yellow,  not  cleavable  ; 
and  the  bright  yellow,  granular,  which  is  the  commonest  form. 
These  varieties  all  have  been  polished  to  some  extent  by  collec- 
tors. Associated  with  cancrinite  is  found  a  bluish-colored  min- 
eral, which  Prof.  Frank  W.  Clarke  has  shown  to  be  a  mixture  of 
cancrinite  and  elaeolite.  The  sodalite  found  occurs  in  seams 
from  i  inch  to  2  inches  in  thickness,  and  varies  from  violet  to  a 
deep  azure-blue.  This  mineral  when  polished  is  almost  as  beau- 
tiful as  lapis  lazuli  and  it  has  been  found  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  give  it  some  gem  importance.  Hexagonal  crystals  of  bright 
yellow  cancrinite  occasionally  penetrate  the  deepest  blue  sodalite, 
forming  an  exceedingly  beautiful  stone  when  polished. 

Lapis  lazuli  has  not  been  found  in  North  America,  though  it 
occurs  extensively  in  the  Andes  Mountains  of  South  America. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


161 


Lapis  lazuli  has  been  shown  to  be,  not  a  definite  mineral,  but  a 
mixture  of  a  colorless  and  a  blue  substance,  the  latter  (the  min- 
eral hauynite),  predominating.  The  yellow  spots  of  so-called  gold 
are  really  iron  pyrites.  It  was  the  sapphire  of  the  ancients.  Its 
hardness  varies  from  5  to  5-5  and  its  specific  gravity  is  2-4. 
The  finest  is  brought  over  from  Persia,  but  it  is  also  found 
in  Siberia,  Tartary,  China,  and  Thibet. 


CHAPTER     IX. 


Feldspar  Group. 


E    |    *VHE 

\      L 
1     ^ 


greenish  variety  of  orthoclase  named  lennilite  by 
Dr.  Isaac  Lea '  is  found  at  Lenni  Mills,  Delaware 
County,  Pa.  The  pearly  variety  found  at  Blue  Hill, 
two  miles  north  of  Media,  and  called  by  Dr.  Lea  dela- 
warite,  is  a  bluish-green,  sub-transparent  cassinite,  of  an  aven- 
turine  character,  the  bright  particles  being  hexagonal  hematite, 
and  often  fine  enough  in  color  to  make  a  gem  or  ornamental 
stone.  Elseolite  has  been  found  at  Magnet  Cove,  Ark.,  in  very 
compact  nodules  of  rich  flesh,  cinnamon,  and  yellow-brown  color, 
and  in  such  abundance  as  to  warrant  its  use  for  certain  purposes 
in  jewelry.  That  found  at  Gardiner  and  Litchfield,  Me.,  admits 
of  a  very  good  polish,  the  color  being  greenish  and  of  a  good 
appearance,  while  part  of  that  found  at  Salem,  Mass.,  is  also 
valuable.  (See  Cancrinite  and  Sodalite.)  At  Van  Arsdale's 
Quarry5  near  Feasterville,  Bucks  County,  Pa.,  orthoclase  is 
found  in  crystals  from  y  an  inch  to  2  inches  in  length,  us- 
ually, however,  in  cleavage  masses  of  a  gray  or  grayish-black 
color,  which  show  the  blue  chatoyancy  finely  and  make  a  very 
fine  variety  of  moonstone.  The  beautiful  specimens  of  albite 
found  at  Mineral  Hill,  near  Media,  Delaware  County,  Pa.,  show 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  36,  p.  326,  Nov.,  1888. 
8  Preliminary  Report  on  the  Mineralogy  of  Pennsylvania  (Harrisburg,  1875).  p.  89. 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES  163 

the  blue  chatoyancy  remarkably  well.  It  is  there  called  "  moon- 
stone," and  may  well  be  classed  under  this  head,  for  it  has  the 
chatoyant  effect  and  in  appearance  differs  but  slightly  from  ortho- 
clase  moonstone.  The  greenish-gray  granular  albite  or  oligo- 
clase  found  in  the  serpentine  at  the  magnesia  quarries,  West 
Nottingham  Township,  Chester  County,  Pa.,  shows  a  faint  blue 
moonstone  lustre.  The  beautiful  feldspar  found  by  W.  W.  Jef- 
feris,  with  the  sunstone  at  Pearce's  paper  mill,  shows  a  blue  chat- 
oyancy as  marked  as  that  of  any  labrador  spar.  It  may  be  the 
latter,  or  perhaps  oligoclase.  The  finest  examples  of  this  mate- 
rial, very  closely  resembling  that  from  Ceylon  in  quality,  trans- 
parency, and  color,  and  forming  gems  £  inch  across,  have  been 
found  at  the  Allen  Mica  Mines,  Amelia  Court  House,  Va.  It 
also  occurs  in  opaque  pieces  6  to  8  inches  square  and  of  good 
color,  showing  a  delicate  blue  chatoyancy.  Crystals  an  inch  in 
length,  of  an  opaque  adularia  feldspar,  showing  a  beautiful  blue 
chatoyancy,  are  found  on  Mount  Beckwith,  Col.  Very  good 
sunstone  oligoclase,  with  fine  reflections,  has  been  found  near 
Fairfield,  Pennsbury  Township,  Pa.,  also  at  Mendenhall's  lime 
quarries,  Pennsbury,  Chester  County,  and  in  Ashton  Township, 
Pa.,  some  of  a  grayish-white  color  with  coppery  reflections ;  and  a 
curious  variety  in  moonstone  (albite),  showing  double  reflections. 
The  green  and  red  sunstone  found  near  Media,  Pa.,  is  very  fine. 
In  Middletown  Township,  Delaware  County,  Pa.,  in  one  local- 
ity moonstone  and  sunstone  in  small  nodular  lumps  are  scattered 
through  the  soil,  and  about  a  ton  of  the  material  has  been  re- 
moved since  its  existence  was  discovered ;  in  another  locality  in 
the  same  township,  moonstone  is  found  in  boulders.  A  very 
fine  sunstone,  the  orthoclase  of  which  is  of  a  rich  salmon  color, 
quite  transparent  and  streaked  with  white,  showing  the  aventur- 
ine  effect  beautifully,  is  found  at  Glen  Riddle,  Delaware  County, 
and  another  beautiful  variety  in  the  hornblende  at  Kennett  Town- 
ship, Chester  County,  Pa.  ;  this  Professor  Genth  thinks 
is  probably  an  oligoclase.  Greenish  orthoclase,  sometimes  in 
bright  green  pieces,  also  pale  green,  and  at  times  spotted  with 
brownish  tints,  all  showing  a  sunstone  effect,  is  found  at  Mineral 
Hill,  Middletown,  and  Upper  Providence,  Delaware  County,  Pa. 
The  orthoclase  of  Frankford,  Pa.,  with  gothite  disseminated 


164 


GEMS     AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


through  it,  very  closely  approaches  sunstone  in  appearance. 
Beautiful  varieties  of  orthoclase  sunstone  were  discovered  near 
Crown  Point,  N.  Y.,  by  William  P.  Blake.  On  the  Horace 
Greeley  Farm,  at  Chappaqua,  N.  Y.,  small  pieces  of  orthoclase 
sunstone  were  found,  almost  as  fine  as  that  from  Swedestrandr 
Norway.  It  also  occurs  at  Amelia  Court  House,  Amelia  County,, 
Va.  A  very  interesting  variety  of  sunstone  was  found  by 
J.  A.  D.  Stephenson  at  the  quarry  in  Statesville,  N.  C.;  the  re- 
flections are  as  fine  as  those  of  the  Norwegian,  but  the  spots  of 
color  are  very  small.  Several  hundred  dollars'  worth  from  this 
locality  have  been  sold  as  gems. 

SUNSTONE— A VENTURINE  ORTHOCLASE 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

55 

• 
i 

< 

ii 

fco 

i 
3 

il 
s 

f£ 

i 

Water. 

is 

—  a 

~'> 
«0 

Theoretical 
Composition 
Typical 
Analysis 
Analysis  

64-60 

18-50 

Delicate 
flesh  red. 
Flesh  red. 

Ogden  Mine, 
Sussex  Co.,  N.J.1 
Ogden  Mine, 
Sussex  Co.,  N.J.» 
Delaware  Co., 
Penn.3 

64-80 
64-82 
67-70 

19*02 

'  , 
19 

19-98 

0*23 

.  —  ' 
25 

1'47 

1*29 
1-23 

i  '47 

o"6i 

0-58 
o'n 

15-22 

I3'38 
1-36 

8'86 

6-5 

2'59 

i.  2  Analyst,  A.  R.  Leeds.    A.  R.  Leeds,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  4,  433. 


»  Analyst,  A.  R.  Leeds.    A.  R.  Leeds,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  6, 15. 


Labrador  spar  is  found  in  large  quantities  in  Lewis  and  Es- 
sex Counties,  N.  Y.,  and  as  boulders  in  the  drift,  all  the  way 
down  to  Long  Island  and  New  Jersey.  In  Lewis  County  the 
boulders  are  so  plentiful  in  one  of  the  rivers  that  it  has  been 
named  Opalescent  River.  Large  quantities  of  this  labradorite 
rock  are  quarried  at  Keeseville,  Essex  County,  N.  Y.,  for  monu- 
mental and  building  work.  It  is  polished  there  for  similar  pur- 
poses at  a  cost  of  about  one  dollar  a  square  foot,  and  finds  a 
ready  sale  under  the  name  of  Au  Sable  granite.  The  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  Building  at  Burlington,  Vt.,  and  one 
of  the  public  buildings  in  Minneapolis  are  built  with  it.  Within 
a  few  miles  of  Amity,  in  Orange  County,  a  boulder  of  fine  mate- 
rial for  specimens,  weighing  over  2  tons  and  showing  the  charac- 
teristic chatoyant  play  of  colors,  was  found.  In  Pennsylvania 
labradorite  occurs  at  Mineral  Hill,  Chester  County,  and  opposite 
New  Hope,  Bucks  County ;  and  also  in  the  Wichita  Mountains, 
Ark.  Mention  is  made  by  Professors  Genth  and  Kerr '  of  a  curi- 

1  Minerals  and  Mineral  Localities  of  North  Carolina,  p.  48. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


ous  white  variety  occurring  at  the  Cullakenee  Mine,  Clay  County, 
also  large  crystals  in  the  trap  at  Shiloh  Church.  On  the  road  to 
Charlotte,  Mecklenburg  County,  and  near  Bakersville,  North 
Carolina,  specimens  showing  a  slight  blue  chatoyancy  are  also  found. 
This  domestic  labradorite  is  scarcely  used  at  all  in  the  arts,  as 
the  mineral  from  Labrador  is  cheaper  and  of  a  much  superior 
quality,  and  takes  a  finer  polish. 

At  Pike's  Peak,  Col.,  amazonstone  is  found  in  cavities  in  a 
coarse  pegmatite  granite  with  smoky  quartz  crystals,  often  of 
huge  size,  flesh-colored  and  white  feldspars.  When  associated 
with  smoky  quartz,  it  makes  a  most  pleasing  and  effective  miner- 
alogical  combination.  The  mineral  here  is  finer  than  any  found 
-elsewhere.  Many  thousand  amazonstone  crystals  of  the  most 

LABRADORITE 


LOCALITY. 

a 

td 

jja 

j 

0-3 
fc'x 

&.2 

4 

1 

1 

3 

3 

&o 

3 

£0 

i 

A 

& 

is 

Theoretical 

Composition 
Analysis  

52-00 

S4'47 
5i'03 

3°'3° 
26-45 
26*20 

i;3o 
4-96 

12-30 

io'8o 
14*16 

4'5° 
4'37 
3'44 

Mt.  Marcy,  Essex  Co.,  N.  Y.«   
Waterville,  N.  H»  

0-66 

0*69 

0*92 
0-58 

o'53 

1  Analyst,  A.  R.  Leeds.    A.  R.  Leeds,  Am.  Chem.  J.,  March,  1877.    Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  14,  240 
'  Analyst,  E.  S.  Dana.    E.  S.  Dana,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  3,  48. 

beautiful  green  color  have  been  obtained,  measuring  from  £  inch 
to  over  1 2  inches  in  length  and  of  different  shades  of  green,  from 
the  lightest  and  most  delicate  to  a  deep  apple-green.  The  crys- 
tals are  often  in  groups,  the  bases  of  which  are  covered  with 
white  albite.  The  finest  group  of  this  character  is  in  the 
New  York  State  Museum  in  Albany,  and  the  finest  single 
•crystals  are  in  the  collections  of  Clarence  S.  Bement  of 
Philadelphia  and  Frederick  A.  Canfield  of  Dover,  N.  J. 
When  this  mineral  was  first  exhibited  at  the  World's  Fair 
In  Philadelphia,  in  1876,  it  proved  a  great  surprise  to  many, 
but  especially  to  the  Russians,  who  had  brought  over  some 
small  crystals  valued  at  what  would  now  be  considered  fabulously 
high  prices.  Some  of  it  is  cut  into  gems  or  ornamental  stones, 
and  large  quantities  are  still  sold  annually  to  tourists.  Several  lo- 
calities in  North  Carolina  also  furnish  this  mineral.  Rockport, 
Mass.,  formerly  afforded  many  finely  colored  pieces.  Some  fine 
green  crystals  have  also  been  found  at  Paris,  Me.,  and  at  Mount 


1 66 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


Desert,  Me.,  material  that  would  cut  into  fair  gems  is  occasionally 
met  with.  Several  light-green  crystals,  over  6  inches  long,  and 
one  over  10,  were  found  in  the  Allen  Mica  Mines,  Amelia  Court 
House,  Va.  From  the  Pike's  Peak  locality  one  dealer  sold  over 
$8,000  worth  as  specimens,  at  prices  as  high  as  $200  for  a  single 
specimen.  Over  $1,000  worth  from  this  place  is  annually  cut 
into  tourists'  jewelry.  In  Middletown,  Delaware  County,  Pa., 
many  shades  of  green  feldspar,  passing  into  cassinite  and  delawa- 
rite,  are  found  in  the  soil  in  loose  boulders,  up  to  20  inches  in 
diameter.  In  the  Allen  Mica  Mines  many  hundreds  of  tons  of 
rich  green  cleavages  of  amazonstone,  some  6  or  8  inches  across, 
were  found  in  mining  for  mica,  and  this  is  so  plentiful  that  it 
merits  attention  in  the  arts. 

AMAZONSTONE 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

Theoretical 
Composition 

LOCALITY, 
Magnet  Cove, 
Ark. 
Analyst, 
Pisani.1 

LOCALITY, 
Mineral  Hill, 
Penn. 
Analyst, 
Pisani.2 

LOCALITY, 
Amelia  Co., 
Va. 
Analyst, 
Page.3 

LOCALITY 
Baltimore, 
Md. 
Analyst, 
Williams.* 

Color  

Blue  Green. 

Blue  Green. 

Bluish  Gray. 

Blue  Green. 

Silica  

64/60 

64.*  10 

64.'  QO 

64.'  1  2 

6;*4i 

Alumina  

iS-qo 

IQ'7O 

2O'Q2 

I6-84 

ig-86 

Ferric  Oxide  

O'7A. 

0-28 

2-28 

Potassa  

l6'QO 

I5'6o 

lo'Qt; 

I  V*4 

IO'I2 

O-AS 

TQS 

r88 

4'6l 

O"\2 

I  -08 

Magnesia  

O'26 

Water  

o'-K 

O'2O 

Specific  Gravity.  .  .  . 

2'?4 

2P|?7 

2-56 

',  2  Typical  Analysis.     Des  Cloiseaux,  Comptes  Rendus,  1876,  p.  885-91. 

3  F.  P.  Dunnington,  Chem.  News,  Oct.  31,  1884,  p.  208. 

«  G.  W.  Williams,  Bait.  Nat.  Field  Club,  April,  1887.     Neues  Jahrb.  fur  Min.,  1888,  2  Band,  i  heft. 

Perthite,  abundant  at  Perth,  Ontario,  is  found  in  the  United 
States  as  boulders,  and  possibly  in  place.  This  mineral  forms  a 
very  curious  and  rich-colored  gem  stone,  with  bright  aventurine 
reflections. 

Peristerite,  associated  with  common  orthoclase,  has  been 
found  crystallized  in  great  abundance  in  the  town  of  Macomb,  St. 
Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.  Many  of  the  specimens  show  the 
beautiful  light-blue  chatoyant  effect.  It  has  also  been  observed 
as  far  north  as  Bythurst,  Canada,  nine  miles  north  of  Perth,  in 
the  townships  of  Pierrepont  and  Russell,  and  in  at  least  a  dozen 
other  places  in  northern  New  York.  Occasionally  it  makes  a 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  167 

very  fine  gem  stone,  differing  from  labradorite  and  moonstone, 
the  chatoyancy  being  an  intermediate  one  between  the  white 
of  moonstone  and  the  dark  blue  of  the  former.  It  occurs  in 
large  masses  at  Cavendish,  near  Cavendish  Falls,  in  the  railway 
cutting,  twenty-two  miles  northeast  of  Bellows  Falls,  Vt. 

A  compact  variety  of  white  or  gray  orthoclase,  spotted  black 
by  hydrated  manganese  oxide,  and  called  from  its  leopard-like 
appearance,  leopardite,  is  abundant  near  Charlotte,  Mecklenburgh 
County,  and  also  in  Gaston  County,  N.  C.  It  is  a  variety  of 
porphyry  with  disseminated  crystals  of  quartz,  and  occurs  in  large 
masses  as  a  rock,  so  that  it  would  furnish  a  good  ornamental 
stone,  if  polished.  It» might  be  also  used  for  a  gem  stone. 

In  December,  1887,  specimens  of  feldspar  were  sent  to  the 
writer1  for  examination  by  Daniel  A.  Bowman,  who  had  found 
them  at  a  depth  of  380  feet  in  the  Hawk  Mica  Mine,  four  miles 
east  of  Bakersville,  N.  C.  They  proved  to  be  a  variety  of  oligo- 
clase,  remarkable  for  its  transparency.  The  clearest  piece  meas- 
ured i  by  2  by  3  inches.  One  of  the  two  varieties  is  of  a  faint 
window-glass  green  color,  and  contains  a  series  of  cavities,  sur- 
rounded and  fringed  by  tufts  of  white,  needle-shaped  inclusions 
called  microlites,  which  measure  from  -g-V  to  -/$  inch  (0*5  to  i  '5  mil- 
limeter) in  diameter  and  are  quite  round,  resembling  those  that 
are  occasionally  present  in  the  Ceylonese  moonstone.  The  won- 
derful transparency  of  the  oligoclase  and  the  whiteness  of  the  in- 
clusions give  the  whole  mass  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  lumps 
of  glass  so  commonly  obtained  from  the  bottom  of  a  glass  pot. 
It  was  mistaken  for  this  until  its  highly  perfect  cleavage  was  no- 
ticed. Recently  some  material  of  a  slightly  different  character  has 
been  obtained  at  the  mine.  Cleavage  masses  of  a  white,  striated 
oligoclase,  3  inches  long,  were  found,  containing  nodules  about 
f  inch  to  f  inch  (10  to  15  millimeters)  square,  which  were  as 
colorless  and  pellucid  as  the  finest  phenacite  and  entirely  free 
from  the  inclusions  found  in  the  greenish  variety.  This  trans- 
parent variety,  like  the  other,  shows  no  striae. 

The  following  analysis  by  Prof.  Frank  W.  Clarke,  made 
from  a  faint  green  variety,  shows  it  to  be  a  typical  oligoclase. 
The  specific  gravity  was  determined  to  be  2*651.  This  has  been 

1  See  Mineralogical  Notes,  by  George  F.  Kunz,  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  36,  p.  222,  Sept.,  1888. 


1 68  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

cut  into  a  transparent  gem,  and  may  be  advantageously  used  for 
spectroscope,  microscope,  and  other  lenses. 

Silica 62'6o 

Alumina 23-52 

Ferric  Oxide 08 

Manganous  Oxide trace 

Lime 4-47 

Potassa 56 

Soda 8-62 

Loss  by  ignition  1 10 


99'95 

A  very  fine  oligoclase  occurs  at  Dixon's  Quarry,  New  Castle 
County,  Del. ;  and  at  West  Chester,  Delaware  County,  Pa., 
a  striated  variety  which  admits  of  a  handsome  polish. 

Obsidian,  a  peculiar,  glasslike  stone  of  volcanic  origin,  is  found 
along  Pitt  River,  Cal.,  where  handsome  specimens  of  the  streaked 
marekanite  or  "mountain  mahogany"  are  found,  also  in  Owen 
Valley,  in  the  same  State,  where  it  occurs  in  red  fragments,  and 
also  banded  with  alternate  layers  of  black  and  brown.  Near 
Sante  Fe,  N.  M.,  it  is  found  in  rounded  pebbles  over  an  inch 
across,  resembling  moldavite,  as  the  variety  from  Moravia  is 
called,  only  not  quite  so  green.  A  porphyrite  and  sperolite  obsidian 
occurs  under  the  trachyte  on  Gunnison  River,  and  a  heavy  vein  of 
porphyrite  obsidian  is  found  under  the  Grande  pyramid,  continu- 
ing from  thence  southward  through  the  trachytic  bed.  Nodules 
are  found  in  the  lower  members  of  the  trachytic  veins.  There  is 
a  dyke  of  light-gray  and  clear  obsidian,  with  concentric  structure, 
near  the  Colorado  Central  lode,  north  of  Saguache  Creek,  near 
Georgetown,  Col.  Obsidian  in  fine  pieces  is  very  abundant  ten 
miles  southeast  of  Silver  Peak,  Nev.,  and  at  Obsidian  Cliff  in  the 
Yellowstone  Park,  Wyo.  This  locality  is  described  by  Joseph 
P.  Iddings"  who  says  :  "The  cliff  presents  the  partial  sections  of 
a  floor  of  obsidian,  the  dense  glass  constituting  the  lower  portion, 
which  is  from  75  to  100  feet  thick.  One  of  its  remarkable  feat- 
ures is  a  prismatic  column,  forming  its  southern  extremity,  which 
rises  50  or  60  feet,  and  is  only  2  to  4  feet  in  diameter.  The 

1  E.  L.  Sperry's  Analysis  in  Mineralogical  Notes  by  S.  L.  Penfield  and  E.  A.  Sperry,  Am.  J. 
Sci.  III.,  Vol.  36.,  p.  325,  Nov.,  1888. 

4  Seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  p.  254  et  seq. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  169 

color  of  the  material  is  for  the  most  part  jet-black,  but  some  of  it 
is  mottled  and  streaked  with  brownish  red  and  various  shades  of 
brown  mountain  mahogany,  passing  into  dark  or  light  yellow, 
purple,  and  yellowish  green."  Fine  examples  from  this  locality 
are  in  the  United  States  National  Museum  Collection  at  Wash- 
ington. 

William  H.  Holmes,  in  an  interesting  paper  in  the  "American 
Naturalist,"1  states  that  while  examining  the  locality  it  occurred 
to  him  that  the  various  Indian  tribes  of  the  neighborhood  had 
probably  visited  the  place  in  order  to  procure  material  for  arrow- 
heads and  similar  implements,  and  after  a  short  search  he  found 
a  leaf-shaped  instrument  that  was  4  inches  in  length,  3  in  width, 
and  £  inch  in  thickness,  of  very  fine  workmanship  and  made  of 
the  black  opaque  obsidian.  Further  search  was  rewarded  by  ten 
more  or  less  perfect  implements.  The  use  of  obsidian  as  points 
for  arrows,  spears,  and  cutting  implements  was  noted  by  Squire 
and  Davis,  who  found  such  articles,  though  mostly  broken,  in 
Indian  altar  mounds  of  the  Scioto  Valley  in  Ohio ;  and  an 
object  made  of  this  material  was  found  in  Tennessee  by  Gerald 
Troost.* 

John  R.  Bartlett,'  commissioner  of  the  United  States  from 
185010  1853  for  determining  the  boundary  line  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico,  found  pieces  of  obsidian  and  fragments  of 
painted  pottery  along  the  Gila  River  wherever  there  had  been 
Indian  villages.  Specimens  have  been  found  along  the  ruins  of 
the  Casas  Grandes  in  Chihuahua,  Mex.,  as  well  as  along  the  Gila 
and  Salinas  Rivers.  Similar  observations  have  been  made 
by  earlier  and  later  travellers,  among  whom  is  Caleb  Lyon,  who 
in  1860  found  the  Shasta  Indians  of  California  making  arrow- 
heads from  obsidian  as  well  as  from  the  glass  of  a  broken  bottle. 
In  a  letter,  which  was  published  by  the  American  Ethnological 
Society,  he  describes  the  method  of  manufacture.4  The  beautiful 

1  Notes  on  an  Extensive  Deposit  of  Obsidian  in  the  Yellowstone  Park.     Vol.  13,  p.  247,  April, 
1879. 

9  Ancient  Remainsin  Tennessee.     Vol.  I.,  p.  361,  New  York,  1845. 

3  Personal  Narrative  of  Explorations  and  Incidents  in  Texas,  New  Mexico,  California,  Sonora, 
and  Chihuahua,  during  the  years  1850-1853,  Vol.  2,  p.  50,  New  York,  1854.     Humboldt's  Essai 
Politique  sur  la  Nouvelle   Espagne,  Vol.  2,  p.  243,  Paris,  1825.     Clavirego's  History  of  Mexico, 
Vol.  I,  p.  157,  Philadelphia,  1817. 

4  Bulletin  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society,  Vol.  i,  p.  39,  New  York,  1861. 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 


color  of  the  different  varieties  recommended  its  use  in  the  arts, 
and  it  exists  in  such  immense  quantities  that  it  should  receive 
some  attention  from  jewelers  and  decorators. 

Pitchstone  is  a  variety  having  the  lustre  of  pitch  rather  than 
glass.     Pitchstones  are  often  albite  or  oligoclase  rather  than  or- 

OBSIDIAN 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

25 

c 
1 

v  , 
13 
11-47 

E2 

.  ' 
40 
trace 

it  "05 

| 

i 

s1" 

tn 

Potassa. 

S 

ii 

Sa 

C.u 

Greenish  black..  .  . 
Variety      Pitch-  ) 

Yellowstone  Nat.  Park1  . 
Mono  Valley,  Cal.*  
j  Isle     Royale,    Lake  1 
(          Superior3  j 

77-00 
74'°5 
62*51 

0*90 
2*67 

i;ig 

4'S 

3'°3 

3-62 
trace 

0*70 

2  '2O 

7*14 

6'o 

** 

'  Analyst,  Beam.    Wm.  Beam,  U.  S.  Geol.  Sur.,  Hayden,  1878,  Part    I.,  p.  453. 

2  Analyst,  T.  M.  Chatard.    T.  M.  Chatard,  U.  S.  Geol.  Sur.,  Bull.  No.  9. 

s  Analyst,  Foster  &  Whitney.    Foster  &  Whitney,  Rep.  Geol.,  Lake  Superior,  Part  II.,  p.  106.    Am.  J.  Sci.  (2),  Vol.  17,  p.  128. 

thoclase ;  that  is,  they  contain  soda,  or  soda  and  lime,  instead  of 
potash  as  a  base. 

The  best  known  crystals  of  chondrodite,  and  the  finest  known 
gems  cut  from  this  material,  have  been  found  at  the  Tilly  Foster 
Mine,  Brewster,  N.  Y.  Recent  working  has  brought  to  light 
transparent,  garnet-colored  crystals,  measuring  £  by  £  inch,  and  a 
few  over  4  inches  across.  One  essonite-colored  crystal  is  £  inch 

CHONDRODITE 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

S 

c 
1 

&-2 

U 

II 

c 

S 

in 

< 

S 

£° 

£o 

E 

f 

Theoretical 

Composition 
Typical 

Analysis 
Analysis.  .  . 

Brown  
Garnet  Red.. 

Tilly  Foster  Mine,  Putnam  Co.,  N.  Y. 

35  '42 
34  'io 

0-48 

54'22 

53'72 

5'72 
7-17 

9'oo 
4'  14 

Deep  Red... 

."     '  34'°S 

0-41 

53'72 

7-28 

3'88 

'       ... 

Red......... 

35'42 

51-88 

9'73 

S'^8 

i 

8'ce 

i 

Yellow... 

3-65 

i 

Red  

U                   it 

11           "                                                        g 

36-00 

54'64 

3'97 

3'77 

1-62 

1  Specific  Gravity,  3-72.    Analyst,  Hawes.    Am.  J.  Sci.  (g),  6,  222  and  10,  96.    E.  S.  Dana,  Trans.  Acad.  Conn.  III.— HUMITE. 

2  Typical  Analysis.    Specific  Gravity,  3'z.    Analyst,  Breidenbaugh.    Rammelsberg,  Mineralchemie,  p.  705. — HUMITB. 

3  Analyst,  Hawes.    E.  S.  Dana,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  10,  96.— HUMITK. 

»  Analyst,  Breidenbaugh.    E.  S.  Breidenbaugh,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  6,  212.— HUMITE. 

*  Analyst,  Langstaff.    Langstaff,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (i),  6, 172. 

"  Analyst,  Rammelsberg.    Ramrdelsberg,  Pogg.  Ann.,  53, 130. 

7  Analyst,  Fisher.    Fisher,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (2),  o,  85.    Phillips'  Mineraloffy,  1852,  p.  353. 

8  Analyst,  Thomson.    Thomson,  Ann.  N.  Y.  Lye.  III.,  54. 

across.  Others,  still  uncut,  would  furnish  fine  gems.  The  finest 
of  these  crystals  are  in  the  Allen  Cabinet,  now  at  the  Johns  Hop- 
kins University,  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  in  the  Mineralogical  Cab- 
inet of  the  Peabody  Museum,  New  Haven,  Conn.  The  cabinets 
of  Frederick  A.  Canfield  and  Clarence  S.  Bement  also  contain 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


171 


fine  specimens.       The  gems  are  so  few  in  number  as  to  be  only 
mineralogical  curiosities. 

Andalusite  is  found  in  a  number  of  places  in  the  United  States, 
but  as  yet  no  fine  gem  stone  has  b.een  discovered.  Among  the  locali- 
ties most  worthy  of  mention  are  Upper  Providence,  Delaware 
County,  Pa.;  Westford,  Mass.;  Mount  Wiley,  Standish,  Cumber- 
land County,  Me.;  and  Gorham,  near  Sebago  Lake,  Me.  The 
first-named  locality  is  remarkable  for  the  crystals  of  unusual  size 
it  has  produced.  Prof.  Edward  S.  Dana  describes  one  crystal 
now  in  the  cabinet  at  Yale  University  and  also  another  weighing 
more  than  7  pounds.1  The  crystals  from  Westford  are  not  en- 

ANDALUSITE 


LOCALITY. 

3 
% 

Alumina. 

•E3 

fcO 

'a  ^ 

!=§ 

«0 

I 

3 

i 

!! 

mo 

Analyst. 

Theoretical 
Composition  .  .  . 

Analysis  

Lancaster,  Mass.  ... 

•JQ'CO 

"J8-S6 

°'53 

O"2I 

°'99 

Bunsen.1 

Lancaster,  Mass.... 

<1'OO* 

i  'So 

Jackson.2 

it 

Lancaster,  Mass.  ... 

41  "O^ 

48-6O 

cry 

0*41 

2*923 

Petersen.3 

« 

Chester,  Penn  

46  '4O 

=;2"O2 

Thomson.4 

1  Dana,  Mineralogy,  5th  Ed.,  p.  •• 
'Jackson,  Jour.  Nat.  Hist.  Soc.,  . 


.— CHIASTOLITE. 

ston,  I.,  55.— CHIASTOLITB. 

•  Protoxide  of  1 1 


3  Bunsen,  Rammelsberg's  Mineralchemie,  1875,  p.  578. 

4  Thomson,  Nicol.  Man.  of  Min.  p.  243,  1849. 


tirely  perfect,  but  are  of  a  fair  pink  color,  about  2  inches  long  and 
i  inch  across,  and  of  a  quality  to  yield  small  gems.  Those  from 
Mount  Wiley  are  from  £  to  f  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  of  good 
flesh-pink  color,  and  would  cut  into  very  fair  gems.  In  this  vicin- 
ity there  are  also  to  be  found  similar  crystals,  in  a  quartz  ledge 
associated  with  pyrrhotite.  This  association,  which  is  identical  in 
three  different  places,  six  miles  apart,  suggests  the  probability  of 
the  existence  of  andalusite  in  some  abundance,  as  the  spots  visited 
are  only  outcrops  of  the  same  rock.  Further  exploration  would 
probably  result  in  the  discovery  of  fine  specimens.  The  crystals 
found  at  Gorham,  as  regards  perfection,  color,  and  size,  are  equal 
to  those  found  at  any  locality  where  this  mineral  does  not  occur 
as  a  gem.  The  color  is  generally  a  brownish-flesh  color,  although 
at  times  the  pink  color  fades  into  a  faint  grayish-pink.  The  crys- 


1  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  4,  p.  473,  Dec.,  1872. 


172 


GEMS    AND     PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


tals  occur  in  a  quartzite  vein  in  a  brown  mica  schist,  and  scattered 
through  it  are  small  crystals  of  pyrrhotite.1 

Among  the  many  valuable  ethnological  additions  to  the 
United  States  National  Museum,  consequent  upon  the  acquisition 
of  Alaska,  is  that  of  a  series  of  highly  interesting  objects,  con- 
sisting of  drills,  adzes,  and  knife-sharpeners,  collected  at  Point 
Barrow,  Capes  Nome  and  Prince  of  Wales,  and  at  St.  Michael's, 
Sledge  and  Diomede  Islands.  Prof.  Frank  W.  Clarke  found 
by  analysis  that  these  objects  were  true  jadeite  or  nephrite.2 
A  mineral  was  also  found  which  was  mistaken  for  jade,  but  was 
determined  by  analysis  to  be  pectolite.  (See  Pectolite.)  The 
jade  was  generally  coarse  in  quality,  but  among  the  objects  were 
some  with  a  high  finish,  some  translucency,  and  great  beauty. 
In  color  they  were  yellowish  green,  olive-green,  siskin-green,  and 
blackish  green.  A  critical  analytical  and  microscopical  examina- 
tion at  the  laboratory  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey 
gave  the  following  results  : ' 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

Cape  Prince  of 
Wales. 
Part  of  Adze. 
Mottled  Yellowish 
Green. 

Drill. 
St.  Michael's. 
Siskin  Green. 

Small  Knife. 
Diomede  Island. 
Blackish  Green, 
Mottled  and 
Laminated. 

Adze. 
Point  Barrow. 
Nearly  Black. 

29-89 
56-OI 
1-98 
6'34 

trace 
12-54 
21-54 
1-91 

3-006 
56-I2 
0*63 
7'45 

trace 
1272 
20-92 
1-42 

3'010 
56-08 

roi 
7'67 
trace 

I3'95 
19-96 
2-03 

2-922 

57-11 

2-57 

5'i5 
trace 
11-54 
21-38 
2-06 

Silica       

Alumina  

Ferrous  Oxide  

Manganous  Oxide  

Lime  

Ignition  Loss  by  

100-35 

99-26 

lOO'OI 

99-81 

Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  1888,  p.  117. 

As  regards  origin,  some  early  writers  have  attributed  the 
Alaska  nephrite  to  Siberian  sources,  but  of  late  years  it  has  been 
generally  ascribed  to  a  home  locality.  Native  reports  pointed  to 
a  source  known  as  the  Jade  Mountains,  north  of  the  Kowak 

1  Andalusite   from  a  New  American  Locality,  by  George  F.  Kunz,  Proc.  Am.  Ass'n.  Adv.  Sci. 
Vol.  32,  p.  270,  Salem,  1883. 

*  Am.  ].  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  28,  p.  20,  July,  1884. 
3  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  1888,  p.  115. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


173 


River,  about  1 50  miles  above  its  mouth ;  and  after  several  at- 
tempts the  spot  was  visited  in  1882  by  Lieut.  G.  M.  Stoney, 
U.  S.  N.  iie  collected  specimens  of  jade  in  situ,  and  a  number 
of  samples  were  examined.  They  may  be  described  as  follows  : 
A.  Greenish  gray,  splintery,  lamellar  in  structure ;  $,  like 
8,  but  more  granular ;  C,  paler,  nearly  white,  closer  grained  ; 
D,  brownish,  highly  foliated.  All  four  were  analyzed  with  the 
following  results : 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES 

A. 

B. 

c. 

D. 

Ignition  

178 

1-38 

176 

I'77 

Silica  

;8-ii 

^•87 

?6-8; 

C7--38 

Alumina  

O'2A 

2'O7 

0-88 

O'lQ 

Ferric  Oxide  

V44- 

T7Q 

4."W 

A-AT. 

Ferrous  Oxide   

o-*8 

O"*8 

1*15 

l'2t 

Manganous  Oxide  

trace 

trace 

trace 

trace 

Lime         

I2'OI 

12'  A* 

i  VOQ 

I2'Id 

Magnesia  

2TQ7 

21'62 

2r;6 

22*71 

99'93 

99'  54 

99-92 

99^3 

The  foregoing  evidence  is  sufficient  to  show  the  essential 
identity  of  all  the  Alaskan  jades,  and  to  dispose  of  the  theory 
that  their  presence  in  Alaska  is  to  be  accounted  for  upon  the 
basis  of  trade  with  Siberia.  That  theory  is  also  negatived  by  the 
discovery,  announced  by  George  M.  Dawson,  of  small  nephrite 
boulders  on  the  upper  part  of  the  Lewis  River,  not  far  from  the 
eastern  boundary  of  Alaska.  But  these  nephrites  are  also  strik- 
ingly like  those  from  many  other  localities,  and  two  of  the  latter 
have  been  included  in  our  comparisons.  First,  a  water-worn, 
dark-green  boulder  from  New  Zealand,  sent  to  the  Museum  by 
Sir  Julius  Haast;  and  second,  a  small  implement  from  Roben- 
hausen,  Lake  Pfaffikon,  Switzerland,  out  of  the  collection  of 
Thomas  Wilson.  The  latter  specimen,  also  green,  had  a  specific 
gravity  of  3*015,  as  determined  by  Dr.  William  Hallock,  and  a 
more  weighty  distinction  is  based  upon  the  presence  of  inclosures 
of  foreign  matter  in  the  Siberian  nephrite,  which  are  quite  lack- 
ing in  the  specimens  from  Alaska. 

True  jade  or  nephrite  has  not  been  observed  in  the  United 
States,  although  early  mineralogists  referred  the  bowenite  of 


174 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


Smithfield,  R.  I.,  to  that  mineral.  (See  Bowenite.)  Near  Eas- 
ton,  Pa.,  is  found  a  mineral  which  James  D.  Dana  says  is  a  mixture 
and  calls  it  pseudo-nephrite.  Of  this  there  are  two  varieties,  one 
pale  green,  almost  white,  the  other  darker  green.  The  former  is 
found  on  the  Delaware  River  about  a  mile  north  of  Easton,  and 
the  darker  green,  about  a  mile  west  of  this  locality  at  Lerch's, 
the  former  on  the  south  side  and  the  latter  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Syenite  ridge. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Chiastolite,  Cyanite,  Datolite,  Staurolite,  Isopyre,   Pectolite,  Dioptase,  Prehnite,  Zono- 
chlorite,  Chlorastrolite,  Thomsonite,  Lintonite,  Natrolite,  and  Fluorite. 


I 


^  HE  curious,  cross-like  markings  of  chiastolite  (macle)  have 
suggested  its  use  for  gem  purposes.  The  illustration 
shows  the  many  markings  that  may  exist  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  one  crystal,  and  the  variety  of  ornamental 
effects  that  may  be  produced.  It  is  used  for  a  gem,  and  sold  for 
that  purpose  abroad,  but  there  is  no  demand  for  it  in  the  United 
States.  Chiastolites  are  found  in  Mariposa  County,  Cal.,  and  at 
Lancaster  and  Westford,  Mass.  William  P.  Blake  first  observed 
this  mineral  in  Mariposa,  where,  in  the  drifts  of  the  Chowchilla 
River,  near  the  old  road  to  Fort  Miller,  he  found  crystals  in  great 


FIG.    7. 
DISSECTED   CRYSTAL   OF   CHIASTOLITE. 


abundance,  showing  the  black  crosses  on  the  white  ground  in  a 
remarkably  perfect  manner.  They  are  also  found  in  the  stratum 
of  conglomerate  which  caps  the  hills  above  the  streams,  and  they 
were  all  doubtless  originally  in  place  in  the  slates  a  little  higher  up 
the  river.  Smaller  and  imperfect  "  macles  "  are  found  in  the  slates 
on  the  road  to  Bear  River,  at  Hornitos,  Cal.  The  Massachusetts 
localities  have  yielded  many  of  the  best  specimens  found. 


175 


1 76 


GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES    IN   THE 


Cyanites  were  found  in  the  early  part  of  the  century  at  Ches- 
terfield, Mass.,  where  some  of  the  finest  mineralogical  specimens 
were  obtained.  An  example  of  these,  a  mass  measuring  10  to  6 
inches,  and  consisting-  of  distinct  crystals  over  3  inches  long,  piled 
one  upon  the  other,  is  in  the  British  Museum  at  South  Kensington, 
in  London.  The  crystals  are  all  distinct,  of  a  fine  dark-blue  color, 
and  would  cut  into  small  mineralogical  gems.  At  Darby  Creek, 
Moon's  Ferry,  Delaware  County,  Pa.,  have  been  found  deep 
azure-blue  blades  5  and  6  inches  long,  which  might  afford  gems 
if  the  mineral  were  thicker.  Blue,  green,  and  gray  specimens  are 
found  at  East  Bradford,  Chester  County,  Pa.  Fine  crystals  occur 
with  lazulite  at  Chubb's  and  Crowder's  Mountains,  on  the  road  to 
Cooper's  Gap,  in  Gaston  County,  N.  C.  At  Windham,  Me., 
cyanite  has  been  observed  in  crystals  6  inches  long.  The  old 

CYANITE 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

H 

i 

H 

Analyst. 

Theoretical  Composition... 

•jft'oo 

Analysis  

White  

Sinclair  Co.,  N.  C  

17  'CO 

i  -60 

j.  L.  Smith.1 

i  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (2),  16,  371, 1853. 


localities  are  Worthington,  Blandford,  Westfield,  and  Lancaster, 
Mass.;  Litchfield  and  Washington,  Conn.;  Straff ord,  Salisbury, 
and  Bellows  Falls,  Vt.;  near  Wilmington,  Del.;  at  Willis 
Mountain,  Buckingham  County ;  also  two  miles  north  of  Chancel- 
lorsville,  in  Spottsylvania  County,  Va.  The  finest  cyanite  is 
found  at  Bakersville,  N.  C.,1  where  it  occurs  in  distinct  isolated 
crystals  that,  for  perfection,  depth  of  color,  and  transparency,  rival 
those  from  St.  Gothard,  Switzerland.  They  are  found  at  an  alti- 
tude of  5,500  feet,  near  the  summit  of  Yellow  Mountain,  on  the 
road  to  Marion,  N.  C.,  four  miles  southeast  of  Bakersville,  in  a 
vein  of  white  massive  quartz  in  a  granitic  bluff,  associated  with 
almandite  garnet  of  a  very  light  transparent  pinkish-purple  color. 
The  vein  has  a  dip  of  sixty  degrees,  bearing  northeast  and  south- 
west. The  color  varies  from  almost  colorless  to  deep  azure-blue, 
as  dark  as  the  Ceylonese  sapphire.  Some  of  the  crystals  are 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.,  III.,  Vol.  36,  p.  224,  Sept.,  1888. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA   AND    MEXICO  1/7 

2  inches  long,  while  a  few  were  observed  f  inch  (15  millimeters)  in 
width  and  I  inch  (10  millimeters)  in  thickness.  Occurring  in  white 
quartz,  they  form  beautiful  specimens,  and  the  loose  crystals  were 
extensively  sold  for  sapphire  at  Roane  Mountain,  the  summer  re- 
sort. Some  gems  have  been  cut,  and  a  fine  example  is  in  the 
United  States  National  Museum.  It  is,  however,  too  soft  to 
admit  of  much  wear. 

Datolite,  in  compact,  opaque,  white,  creamy,  and  flesh-col- 
ored varieties,  found  at  the  Minnesota,  Quincy,  Marquette,  Ash- 
bed,  and  other  mines  in  the  copper  region  of  Lake  Superior,  ad- 
mits of  a  very  high  polish,  and  makes  an  excellent  opaque  gem  or 
ornamental  stone.  One  especially  fine  nodule  over  4  inches  across, 
with  a  flesh-colored  centre  shading  off  into  gray  and  creamy  tints, 
found  at  the  Delaware  Mine,  is  in  the  cabinet  of  Clarence  S. 
Bement.  Some  fine  specimens  of  this  mineral  are  also  in  the 
William  S.  Vaux  Cabinet  at  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  in 
Philadelphia. 

The  staurolites  of  Fannin  County,  Ga.,  first  described  by 
Prof.  Edward  S.  Dana,1  are  found  twelve  miles  southeast  of 
Ducktown,  Tenn.,  a  locality  which  has  furnished  some  of  the 
finest  known  twinnings  of  this  mineral.  From  their  resem- 
blance to  a  cross,  these  staurolites  have  found  sale  abroad  as 
ornaments  and  charms,  and  are  as  highly  regarded  as  those 
that  are  found  in  Brittany,  France,  which,  according  to  the 
legend,  were  supposed  to  have  been  dropped  from  heaven.  The 
Fannin  County  staurolites  occur  twinned  in  single  and  double 
crosses,  and  are  found  in  large  quantities  in  a  decomposed  rock 
of  mica  schist.  Of  those  taken  out,  perhaps  one-tenth  are  per- 
fect crystals.  They  all  require  a  certain  amount  of  scraping 
and  cleaning.  Brilliant  crystals  are  found  at  Windham,  Me., 
some  of  the  twins  forming  fine  crosses.  Occasionally,  transpar- 
ent crystals  are  found  here  that  if  cut  would  afford  mineralogical 
gems  resembling  poor  garnets.  Staurolite  is  also  found  at  Fran- 
conia  and  Lisbon,  N.  H.,  in  mica  slate ;  on  the  shores  of  Mill 
Pond,  loose  in  the  soil;  at  Grantham,  N.  H.;  at  Cabot,  Vt;  at 
Chesterfield,  Mass.;  at  Bolton,  Litchfield,  Stafford,  Tolland,  and 
Vernon,  Conn.;  on  the  Wissahickon,  eight  miles  from  Philadel- 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.,  III.,  Vol.  n,  p.  385,  May,  1876. 


1/8  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES   IN   THE 

phia,  Pa.,  in  reddish-brown  crystals  ;  and  at  the  lead  mine  in  Can- 
ton, Ga.  At  the  Parker  Mine,  Cherokee  County,  N.  C.,  it  occurs  in 
large,  coarse,  single  crystals  and  twins  ;  also  along  Persimmon, 
Hanging  Dog,  and  Bear  Creeks,  Madison  County,  and  Tusqui- 
tee  Creek,  Clay  County.  In  the  last-mentioned  places  staurolite 
is  found  in  argillaceous  and  talcose  slates.  Some  staurolite  macles 
similar  to  a  chiastolite,  from  Charlestown,  N.  H.,  are  described 
by  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson.  These  pass  by  insensible  shades  or 
gradations  into  andalusite  macles. 

Isopyre  is  found  in  small  veins  from  i  to  3  inches  in  width 
in  the  magnetic  iron  at  Dickinson  Mine  in  Ferremonte,  three  miles 
from  Dover,  N.  J.  In  color  it  very  nearly  resembles  the  darker 
green  jasper,  or,  in  other  words,  bloodstone  without  the  red  spots. 
It  is  used  as  a  gem  in  the  cabinets  of  collectors.  Its  hardness  is 
6*0  to  6*5. 

-  Pectolite  was  found  in  quantity  among  the  Esquimau  imple- 
ments collected  by  the  United  States  Signal  Service  at  Point  Bar- 
row, Alaska,  and  examined  by  Prof.  Frank  W.  Clarke  ;'  it  was  at 
first  supposed  to  be  jade,  but  on  examination  proved  to  be  a  new 
and  interesting  variety  of  compact  pectolite,  in  two  varieties,  one 
pale  apple-green,  the  other  dark  green.  The  specific  gravity  of  the 
pale-green  variety  was  2*873,  tnat  °f  the  dark-green  3*092.  This 
forms  an  interesting  and  unexpected  addition  to  the  list  of  gem 
stones.  During  1887  a  massive  white  pectolite  of  unusually  dense 
structure,  and  susceptible  of  a  high  polish,  was  announced  by 
William  P.  Blake  as  occurring  in  Tehama  County,  Cal.,  in  masses 
of  considerable  size.  In  a  letter  to  the  writer  he  gives  the  follow- 
ing description  of  it :  "  It  occurs  in  a  vein,  and  is  broken  out  in 
rough  tabular  masses,  from  2  to  3  or  more  inches  in  thickness, 
but  it  is  reported  that  much  larger  masses  can  be  obtained.  It  is 
exceedingly  tough  and  hard  to  break.  The  fractured  surfaces 
are  irregular,  without  cleavage,  but  have  a  silky  lustre,  and  a  crypto- 
crystalline  structure  is  exhibited  in  extremely  fine  inseparable 
fibres,  which  are  radial,  curved,  and  interlaced,  and  are,  perhaps, 
imbedded  in  a  silicious  magma,  but  the  fibres  constitute  the  bulk 
of  the  mass.  Color,  white,  with  a  delicate  shade  of  sea-green ; 
translucent.  Exposed  or  weathered  portions  lose  their  porcelain- 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.,  III.,  Vol.  28,  p.  21,  July,  1884. 


UNITED   STATES,    CANADA   AND   MEXICO 


179 


like  translucency,  and  become  white  and  somewhat  earthy  in 
appearance,  and  exhibit  the  crypto-fibrous  structure  with  more 
distinctness.  Specimens  cut  and  polished  across  the  end  of  a 
slab-like  mass  show  on  one  side  a  narrow  selvage  of  breccia  made 
up  of  fragments  of  the  pectolite  and  of  a  dark-colored  rock,  mixed 
and  firmly  cemented  together.  On  the  opposite  side  or  border 
of  the  mass,  there  are  distinctly-formed  parallel  planes  of  concen- 
tric layering,  from  the  surfaces  of  which  the  fibres  diverge.  These 
layers  and  the  breccilated  border  opposite  show  the  vein-like 

PECTOLITE 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

Theoretical 
Composition. 

LOCALITY, 
Alaska.1 

LOCALITY, 
Isle  Royale, 
Lake  Superior.3 

LOCALITY, 
Isle  Royale, 
Lake  Superior.3 

A 

3g~> 

%& 
^ 

LOCALITY, 
Point  Barrow, 
Alaska.6 

£'«-. 
^g7 

%&z 
Jp8 

LOCALITY, 
Isle  Royale, 
Lake  Superior.7 

LOCALITY, 
Lehigh  Co., 
Penn.8 

LOCALITY, 
Alaska.8 

Silica  

54-20 

53-20 

53-45 

4-94 

55-66 
i-45 

54-62 

53-94 
0-58 

54-00 

1-90 

55'CO 

no 

55'17 

53-94 
0-58 

Alumina                      .  . 

>  I'2O 
32-94 

0-80 

trace 

Lime  

33'80 

33-26 
0-64 
9-40 

31-21 

32-86 

32-21 

32-10 

32'53 

30-00 

32-21 
i-43 
8-57 

4-09 

Light 
Green. 

Magfnesia 

Soda  

9-30 

7'37 
trace 

2-72 

White. 

7-3i 

8-96 

8-57 

8-89 

trace 
2-96 

Silky 
White. 

9-72 

2-75 

Silky 
White. 

9-02 
0-37 
4^3 

Potassa 

Water  

270 

3-50 
Light  Green. 

7-0 

2-85-2-86 

272 

White. 

2-89 

4-09 

Apple 
Green. 

Color  

Hardness 

Specific  Gravity  





2-873 

1  Analyst,  Frenzel.     Typical  Analysis,  Jahrb.  d.  Vereins  f.  Erd-Kunde,  Dresden,  1884. 
3,  3  Analyst,  Whitney.    J.  D.  Whitney,  Jour.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  His.,  1840,  p.  36.     Am.  J.  Sci.,  II.,  7,  434. 
4  Analyst,  Whitney.    J.  D.  Whitney,  Am.  J.  Sci.,  II.,  29,  205.     Rammelsberg  Mineralchemie,  p.  380. 
<•  Analyst,  Clarke.     F.  W.  Clarke,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Bull.  No.  g. 

6  Analyst,  Kendall.    Variety  Stellite,  same  reference  as  i  and  2. 

7  Analyst,  Dickinson.    Variety  Stellite,  same  reference  as  i  and  2. 

8  Analysts,  Kneer  &  Smith.     G.  B.  Kneer  &  E.  F.  Smith,  Am.  Chem.  J.,  6,  p.  411. 
•  Analyst,  Clarke.     F.  W.  Clarke  &  T.  M.  Chatard,  Am.  J.  Sci.,  III.,  28,  20. 

formation  of  the  mass  between  walls.  Its  hardness  is  from  6  to 
6*5.  It  may  be  found  useful  as  an  ornamental  stone  for  making 
small  objects,  cups,  plates,  handles,  or  for  carving  figures,  or 
inlaid  work."  This  is  identical  with  the  pectolite  from  Alaska, 
described  by  Prof.  Frank  W.  Clarke.  (See  Jade,  Chapter  on 
Mexico.) 

Dioptase  was  first  described  by  R.  C.  Hills  as  being  found 
in  the  United  States  at  the  Bon  Ton  group  of  mines,  about  sev- 
enty miles  from  Clifton,  Ariz.,  where  it  occurs  in  brilliant  green 


i8o 


GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES   IN   THE 


crystals,  yV  to  i  inch  in  length,  lining  cavities  of  what  is  called 
"mahogany  ore,"  a  dark-brown,  compact  mixture,  consisting  prin- 
cipally of  limonite  and  oxide  of  copper  in  varying  proportions.1 
It  has  since  been  found  in  larger  and  finer  crystals,  but  notwith- 
standing its  rich  emerald-green  color,  its  softness  prevents  its  use 
as  a  gem.  These  crystals  are  not  equal  to  those  from  the  Khir- 
ghesse  Steppes,  Siberia.  Single  crystals  from  there  are  occasion- 
ally mounted  entire  without  cutting. 

Prehnite  has  been  found  in  a  number  of  localities  in  the 
United  States,  and  gems  have  been  cut  from  material  found  at 
Bergen  Hill  and  Paterson,  N.  J.  It  is  a  stone  of  rich,  oily-green 

PREHNITE 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

Theoretical 
Composition 

LOCALITY, 
Cornwall,  Penn. 
Analyst, 
Genth.' 

LOCALITY. 
Lake  Huron. 

Analyst, 
Thomson.2 

LOCALITY, 
Isle  Royale, 
Lake  Superior, 
Analyst, 

3 

Color  

Bluish  green. 

Yellow  green. 

Light  green. 

Silica  

4v6o 

42'4O 

4  "I  80 

46'IO 

Alumina  

24'  QO 

20'88 

^YQ2 

2VQO 

Sulphur  

O'OO 

Ferric  Oxide  

VC.4 

Ferrous  Oxide  

4"*2 

Lime  

27'IO 

27'O2 

8-04 

27'OO 

Magnesia  

trace 

T72 

Water     

4'4.O 

4*0  1 

4'  1  6 

Hardness  

V2S 

6*OO 

Specific  Gravity  

4'O'? 

2-86 

2*88 

I  Typical  Analysis.     F.  A.  Genth,  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.,  Aug.  18,  18 

II  Tn.  Thomson,  Nicol's  Man.  of  Min.  (1849),  p.  144. 

5  Albert  Selle,  Cours  de  Min.  et  de  Geol.  (1878),  p.  326. 


color,  generally  in  botryoidal  sheets  or  spheres.  Quite  a  number 
of  these,  some  an  inch  in  diameter,  were  found  at  the  Pennsylvania 
open  cut,  and  in  the  cutting  of  the  Morris  and  Essex  Tunnel 
through  Bergen  Hill,  N.  J.  When  cut  and  polished,  it  resembles 
chrysoprase  in  color  and  lustre.  Zonocholrite,  chlorastrolite,  and 
lintonite  have  been  referred  to  this  species,  but  Dr.  George  W. 
Hawes  found  by  analysis  that  they  were  only  impure  varieties. 

Zonochlorite  was  described  by  Prof.  A.  E.  Foote  in  1873,  and 
was  obtained  by  him  in  1867  on  a  small  island  off  Neepigon  Bay, 
north  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  where  it  occurs  associated  with 
quartz,  amethyst,  carnelian,  etc.  The  largest  pieces  found  are  less 
than  2  inches  across.  Its  hardness  varies  from  6*5  to  7.  It  received 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.,  III.,  Vol.  23,  p.  325,  April,  1882. 


UNITED   STATES,    CANADA   AND   MEXICO 


iSl 


its  name  from  its  green  color  and  banded  appearance,  from  zona,  a 
band,  chloros,  green,  and  lithos,  stone.  It  takes  a  high  polish,  but 
it  has  been  used  only  to  a  limited  extent  as  a  mineralogical  gem. 
Chlorastrolite  is  found  only  on  the  Isle  Royale,  Lake 
Superior.  This  island,  which  belongs  to  the  State  of  Michi- 
gan, is  forty  miles  long  and  five  miles  broad,  and  is  about  twenty 
miles  from  the  mainland.  The  only  inhabitant  of  the  island  is 
the  lighthouse  keeper,  who,  from  time  to  time,  entertains  par- 
ties who  come  to  fish  or  mineralogists  who  come  for  chlorastrolites. 
The  underlying  rock  is  an  amygdaloid  trap,  in  which  the  gem  is 
found,  but  it  is  now  collected  in  the  form  of  rolled  pebbles  on  the 
beach,  having  fallen  or  weathered  out  of  the  trap  rock.  It  is  en- 
tirely opaque,  of  green  color,  mottled  and  stellated,  and  admits  of 
a  high  polish.  Sometimes  the  stellations  radiate  from  the  centre, 

CHLORASTROLITE 


g 

0  >, 

COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

u 

1 

Si-2 

s 

jj 

a 

S 

•sa 

I'? 

Analyst. 

(fl 

< 

ho 

3 

C/5 

£ 

•5 

i 

^0 

Bluish-green.. 

Isle  Royale,   Lake 

5*48 

J   D   Whitney  l 

Isle   Royale,  Lake 

v  ^ 

.  ' 

Superior  

37'4i 

24-25 

6-26 

21-68 

4- 

88 

5'77 

6-0 

J.  D.  Whitney.* 

l,  2  J.  D.  Whitney,  Jour.  Boston  Nat.  Hist.  Soc.,  5,  488.    Am.  J.  Sci.   (2),  6,  270.     Rammelsberg,    Mineralchemie,  p.  639.    Alber 
Seile  Cours  de  Min.  et  de  Geol.,  p.  326.     Rep.  Geol.  of  Lake  Superior,  1851,  II.,  p.  97.    Dana,  Mineralogy,  5th  Ed.,  p.  412. 

and  show  a  beautiful  chatoyancy,  similar  to  the  cat's-eye,  crocido- 
lite,  and  other  fibrous  minerals.  Prof.  A.  E.  Foote  and  a  party 
camped  for  some  months  on  this  island  in  1868,  and  chlorastro- 
lite  was  first  found  by  them  in  a  -vein-stone  associated  with 
native  copper  and  epidote.  Rounded  pebbles  of  the  rock  con- 
taining the  chlorastrolite  are  plentiful  on  the  beach.  One  of  the 
largest  known  perfect  chlorastrolites  is  in  the  cabinet  of  M.  T. 
Lynde,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  measures  i£  by  ii  inches  (see 
Colored  Plate  No.  3)  ;  next  in  size  is  one  belonging  to  Alfred 
Morrison,  of  London ;  and  the  third  largest  is  owned  by  an 
American  lady,  now  residing  in  London.  A  fine  pair  of  oval 
chlorastrolites,  over  half  an  inch  in  length,  are  in  the  possession 
of  Frederick  A.  Canfield,  of  Dover,  N.  J.  About  $1,000  worth 
are  annually  sold  to  tourists. 

Thomsonite  and  lintonite,  the  latter  first  described  by  Peckham1 

'Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  19,  p.  123,  Feb.,  1880. 


182 


GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES    IN   THE 


and  Hall,  found  at  Good  Harbor  Bay,  Grand  Marias,  on  Lake 
Superior,  Mich.,  in  the  basalt,  and  as  rolled  pebbles  on  the  beach, 
result  from  the  decomposition  of  the  rock,  the  amygdules  with- 
standing the  action  of  the  weather  better  than  the  rock.  They 
vary  from  the  size  of  a  pinhead  to  over  an  inch  in  diameter. 
Many  of  the  thomsonites  are  made  up  of  series  of  concentric  lay- 
ers of  various  shades  of  color,  in  soft  tones  of  flesh-red,  creamy 
white,  yellow,  and  green,  and  are  excedingly  pretty,  especially 
when  polished,  when  they  resemble  the  eye-agate.  Great  num- 
bers are  annually  sold  to  visitors  at  Lake  Superior,  especially 
at  Duluth,  Minn.,  and  Grand  Marias,  Mich.  The  cutting 
of  thomsonite  consists  almost  entirely  of  a  rounding  off  of  the 
pebble,  so  as  to  show  the  concentric  and  other  markings  to  the 

THOMSONITE 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

I 

Alumina. 

'ElH 

E 

J 

j 

1 

1 

3  y 

£"S 

I 

ii 

II 

White... 
Flesh  red 
Flesh  red 

Grand  Marais,  Minn.1 
11            it             11     3 

4°'4S 
40-605 

29-50 
26-717 
30-215 

C'232 

0-813 

10-75 
9-40 

I0'37 

°'537 
0-390 
0-49 

4-766 
3  '756 
4'°55 

0-40 

12  "80 

'3'75 

S'o-6-o 
S'o-6'o 
5"o-6"o 

2'33-2>5 

Green  .  .  . 
White... 

Colorado  *  
Minnesota  *  

4045 
40-68 
4I-23 

29  '37 

30'  12 
29-00 

o'8S 

i°'43 
11-92 
ii'6o 

0-42 

4-28 

4'44 
4-86 

i2'86 
14*06 

5'o-6'o 
'  '  6-0  '  ' 

2  33-2'35 
2*316 

1,  2,  \  •>  Analyst,  Linton.    Peckham  &  Hall,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  19,  122,  Feb.,  1880. 
6  Analysts,  Cross  &  Hillebrand.    Cross  &  Hillebrand,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  23,  452. 
6  Analyst,  Kcenig.    G.  A.  Kcenig,  Naturalist's  Leisure  Hour,  No.  8,  Aug.  i,  1878. 

best  advantage.  Some  that  have  been  polished  are  over  an  inch 
in  diameter.  The  small  ones  are  generally  of  the  finest  material. 
Lintonite  is  really  a  variety  of  prehnite,  and  takes  a  fine  pol- 
ish either  alone  or  when  associated  with  the  flesh-colored  forms  of 
thomsonite. 

Natrolite  occurs  in  many  localities  in  beautiful  crystals,  but 
too  small  to  cut  for  gems.  Many  veins  of  it,  and  one  large  area 
containing  over  300  square  feet  of  the  mineral,  were  met  with  in 
the  sinking  of  Shaft  No.  2  of  the  West  Shore  Railroad,  at  Wee- 
hawken,  N.  J.  Scarcely  any  of  the  crystals  were  stout  enough 
to  afford  gems.  This  beautiful,  limpid  white  mineral  occurs  abun- 
dantly all  along  Bergen  Hill  where  tunnelling  has  been  carried 
on,  and  fine  crystals  have  been  found  in  the  Lake  Superior  cop- 
per region.  None  have  been  sold  for  gems  in  the  United 
States,  although  when  suitable  crystals  are  found,  it  is  occasion- 
ally used  for  the  letter  N  in  initial  jewelry. 


UNITED   STATES,   CANADA   AND   MEXICO 


183 


Fluorite,  in  the  colored  transparent  varieties,  is  desig- 
nated as  false  ruby,  emerald,  sapphire,  topaz,  amethyst,  etc. 
Thirty  years  ago  many  specimens  of  the  green  variety  were  found 
at  Muscalonge  Lake,  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.,  where  the 
mineral  was  taken  out  from  a  vein  which  ran  under  the  lake  ;  and 
in  the  autumn  of  1888,  an  immense  cavity  lined  with  large 
cubic  crystals  of  green  fluorite  was  discovered  at  Macomb.  This 
furnished  groups  measuring  nearly  two  feet  across  and  single 
composite  crystals  nearly  a  foot  across,  in  all,  several  tons  of 
fine  crystals.  The  largest  deposits  in  the  United  States  are  at 
Rosiclaire,  Shawneetown,  and  Elizabethtown,  Hardin  County, 
111.,  and  some  thousands  of  tons  are  annually  mined  there, 
crystals  of  the  richest  purple,  yellow,  red,  rose-colored,  green, 
and  other  shades  being  very  common.  It  differs  from  English 

FLUORITE 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

S 

Fluorine. 

II 
U.O 

Phosphate 
of  Lime. 

.Sfr 

11 

tflO 

5I"H3 

4.8'  7O 

Analysis  

Colorless  . 

5O-8l 

Purple  

Lehigh  Co.,  Penn.a.... 

CO'87 

d.O*  2O 

11 

Green  

Lehigh  Co.    Penn  a 

.... 

i  Analyst,  J.  L.  Smith.    J.  Lawrence  Smith.  Am.  J.  Sci.  (2),  ao,  242,  253.     Proc.  Am.  Ass'n,  1885.     Erdm.  I.  fur  pr.  Ch.  66,  432-7,  1855. 
J,  '  Analyst.  E.  F.  Smith.    E.  F.  Smith,  Am.  Chem.  Jour.,  Vol.  5,  p.  272. 

fluorite  in  that  the  crystalline  faces  in  nearly  all  the  specimens 
are  dull,  and  the  colors  show  only  by  transmitted  light.  Crys- 
tals a  foot  across  were  observed  here  twenty  years  ago  dur- 
ing the  workings  of  the  Rosiclaire  lead  mine.  In  the  mounds 
of  this  region  it  has  occasionally  been  found  shaped  into  orna- 
ments by  the  hand  of  prehistoric  man.  This  is  the  only  instance 
that  is  known  of  its  being  used  as  an  ornament.  The  amount 
mined  here  for  the  arts  amounts  to  over  $15,000  a  year.  On  the 
Cumberland  River,  Tenn.,  and  at  Pike's  Peak,  Col.,  some  fine 
crystals  of  a  blue-green  fluorite  have  been  found  ;  also  yellow 
crystals  in  the  geodes  of  the  limestone  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.  One 
of  the  most  remarkable  varieties  of  this  mineral  is  a  chlorophane 
from  the  microlite  localities  at  Amelia  Court  House,  Va.,  which 
has  been  described  by  W.  M.  Fontaine,1  who  also  noted  the 
brilliancy  of  the  phosphorescent  light  that  it  gives  out  at  a  low 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  25,  p.  330,  May,  1883    Minerals  in  Amelia  County,  Va 


1 84 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES 


temperature.  Pallas  mentions  a  specimen  from  Siberia,  of  a  pale 
violet  color,  which  the  heat  of  the  hand  caused  to  give  out  a 
white  light  merely  ;  the  heat  of  boiling  water,  a  green  light  ;  and 
when  on  a  live  coal,  it  gave  out  a  bright  emerald-green  light  that 
might  be  discerned  from  a  distance.  The  writer  found  that  while 
handling  a  few  specimens  of  this  mineral  in  the  dark,  phosphor- 
escence resulted  from  the  slightest  attrition  of  the  specimens, 
either  one  with  another,  or  with  a  nail  or  any  hard  substance. 
In  a  dark  room,  at  a  temperature  of  about  80°  Fahr.,  the  Amelia 
County  mineral  shows  a  white,  luminous  glow,  which  is  intensified 
by  the  warmth  of  the  hand ;  when  placed  in  boiling  water,  it  be- 
comes green  ;  and  on  a  heated  iron  plate,  an  intense  emerald- 
green.  Most  of  the  material  is  more  or  less  flawed,  so  as  to  ren- 
der it  very  friable  under  touch.  This  variety  is  of  a  light-green  or 
a  yellowish-green  color,1  and  seems  to  phosphoresce  at  even  a 
lower  temperature  than  the  more  compact  form.  A  stone  cut 
from  this  material  and  placed  in  a  vial  of  warm  water  fluoresced 
distinctly  in  a  dark  room,  after  being  in  the  water  a  few  minutes, 
thus  giving  a  new  form  of  gem,  that  is,  a  fluorescent  gem  stone, 
though  not  hard  enough  for  continuous  wear. 

lAm.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  28,  p.  235,  Sept.,  1884. 


Sjjfc" jsE<M:t?x'3^^ti2lP^>Q?/0^  • 

Btf}ftnr«ftraKSrf& 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Serpentine,  Bowenite,  Williamsite,  Microlite,  Meerschaum,  Apatite,  Beryllonite,  Lazulite, 

Cassiterite,  Hematite,  Lodestone,  Rutile,  Octahedrite,  Brookite,  Arkansite, 

Titanic    Iron,   Titanite,    Malachite,   Chrysocolla,    Azurite, 

Aragonite,  Fossil  Coral,  Pyrite. 


SERPENTINE  is  found  in  many  localities  in  the  United 
States,  and  of  a  quality  to  fit  it  for  use  for  ornaments, 
although  it  is  little  used  for  that  purpose,  and  finds  its 
greatest  demand  for  decorative  and  building  purposes. 
The  dark-green  noble  serpentine  found  at  Newburyport,  Mass., 
has  been  cut  into  oak  and  other  leaf  forms  for  ornaments.  The 
golden  and  greenish-yellow  serpentine  of  Montville,  N.  J.,  is  of 
the  precious  variety,  and  takes  an  excellent  polish.  In  this  local- 
ity serpentine  occurs  associated  with  crystalline  dolomite,  and 
many  fine  specimens  in  different  collections  were  obtained,  during 
the  process  of  quarrying  this  rock,  for  burning  into  quicklime  or 
for  flux  in  iron  furnaces.  It  occurs  in  small  seams  or  veins,  or  in 
isolated  nodules  from  a  few  inches  to  several  feet  in  diameter. 
George  P.  Merrill,  of  the  United  States  National  Museum,  has 
written  an  exhaustive  paper  on  this  subject.1  He  has  found  that 
the  white  and  gray  nuclei  which  often  exist  in  the  centre  of  these 
nodules  of  serpentine  are  pyroxene,  and  by  analysis  and  micros- 
copic examination  has  proved  that  this  serpentine  is  the  result  of 
an  alteration  from  pyroxene.  The  beautiful  series  of  polished 
specimens  in  the  United  States  National  Museum  and  in  Yale 
University  show  all  the  changes  from  pyroxene  to  serpentine. 

1  See  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  1888,  p.  105. 
185 


1 86  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES   IN   THE 

The  serpentine  of  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.,  also  that  of  Corn- 
wall, Monroe,  and  Warwick,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  the  ophiolite 
of  New  York  City  and  vicinity,  the  serpentine  of  New  Rochelle, 
N.  Y.,  also  some  of  the  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  and  the  Staten  Island 
varieties  are  useful  for  ornamental  and  decorative  purposes. 

On  Deer  Island,  Me.,  serpentine  of  a  very  light-green  color 
occurs.  The  serpentine  from  the  neighborhood  of  Patterson, 
Caldwell  County,  N.  C.,  is  of  a  dark  greenish-black  color,  and 
admits  of  a  fine  polish.1  In  several  localities  in  Delaware  County, 
Pa.,  it  occurs  in  combination  with  calcite.  Serpentine  is  quarried 
chiefly  in  three  places,  Roxbury,  Vt;  Moriah,  Essex  County,  N.  Y.; 
and  Dublin,  Harford  County,  Md.  The  Vermont  stone  is  deep 
green  in  color,  traversed  by  white  veins  of  calcite,  and  takes  a 
beautiful  polish.  It  compares  very  favorably  with  the  Italian 
verde  antique  or  verde  di  Prato,  from  the  quarries  in  Tuscany. 
The  Moriah  stone,  which  is  similar  in  color,  but  granular  in  tex- 
ture, and  spotted  rather  than  veined,  is  found  in  the  market  in  the 
form  of  mantels,  table-tops,  ornaments,  and  similar  objects.  The 
Maryland  stone  is  more  uniformly  green  in  color  than  either  of  the 
others,  and  contains  very  little  calcareous  matter.  It  is  within 
easy  reach  of  Baltimore.  According  to  Prof.  Genth,  who  re- 
ported on  this  locality  in  1875,  ^  consists  of  a  very  large  bed  of 
green  serpentine,  about  500  feet  in  thickness,  overlying  a  bed  of 
black  mottled  serpentine  about  800  feet  in  thickness ;  in  the 
latter,  masses  of  the  green  serpentine  are  frequently  found  im- 
bedded. Beneath  this  immense  bed  of  serpentine  is  a  smaller 
bed  of  green  serpentine,  180  feet  in  thickness,  and  beneath  this, 
there  is  a  third  bed  of  green  serpentine.  Of  its  quality,  he  says : 
"  Everywhere  it  shows  exactly  the  same  character,  but,  as  should 
be  expected,  that  which  came  from  a  greater  depth  showed  a 
somewhat  lighter  color  and  greater  compactness."  He  concludes 
that  beyond  doubt  there  is  an  inexhaustible  quantity  of  this  green 
serpentine  in  the  most  favorable  position  for  mining  on  a  large 
scale,  and  with  an  abundant  water-power  to  manufacture  it  into 
marketable  forms.  A  coarse  serpentine,  used  for  building  pur- 
poses, but  not  suited  for  ornamental  work,  is  quarried  in  consid- 
erable quantities  in  Chester  County,  Pa.  The  stone  is  dull  green 

1  Minerals  of  North  Carolina,  p.  57. 


UNITED   STATES,    CANADA   AND   MEXICO 


I87 


in  color,  soft  enough  to  work  readily,  and  capable  of  producing  most 
excellent  effects,  particularly  in  rock-faced  work  and  rubble  work. 
It  has  been  used  extensively  in  Philadelphia  and  vicinity,  where  it 
was  employed  in  the  construction  of  the  buildings  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  and  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  and  it  has 
also  been  used  to  some  extent  in  New  York  City  and  Washington.1 
Bowenite  is  a  variety  of  serpentine  found  in  some  quantity  at 
Smithfield,  R.  I.,  varying  in  color  from  a  pure  white  through  light 
green  to  deep  green.  It  is  the  "jade  "  and  "  nephrite  "  of  the 
early  American  mineralogists,  so-called  on  account  of  its  remark- 
able toughness  and  its  hardness.  As  yet,  however,  no  archaeolog- 
ical objects  made  from  it  have  been  found.  Its  rich  color  and 
peculiar  toughness  and  hardness  suggest  it  for  use,  to  some  extent, 
where  jade  has  previously  been  employed.  Prof.  Genth"  mentions 
as  having  been  found  at  Easton,  Pa.,  a  bowenite  of  a  greenish 
and  reddish-white  color  and  of  great  tenacity,  frequently  contain- 
ing a  small  quantity  of  tremolite.  The  ease  with  which  this 
material  is  worked,  and  the  effective  designs  that  can  be  made 
from  it,  suggest  it  for  decorative  purposes.  Analyses  of  serpen- 
tine from  Hartford  Co.,  Wilmington,  Del.,  by  Professor  Genth 
have  been  made  with  the  following  result : 

SERPENTINE 


THEORETICAL  COMPOSITION 
AND  PROPERTIES. 

Deep  Green 
Translucent. 

Black 
Mottled. 

Silicic  Acid  

4O"o6 

4.O"}Q 

Alumina  

1*37 

roi 

Chromic  Oxide  

O'2O 

trace 

Nickel  Oxide  

O'7I 

'2~\ 

Ferrous  Oxide  

•V4."* 

•07 

Manganous  Oxide  

O'OQ 

trace 

Magnesia  

WO2 

•?8-32 

Water  

I2'IO 

12-86 

Magnetic  Iron  

TO2 

6'22 

Hardness  

lOO'OO 

4'° 

lOO'OO 
4"O 

Specific  Gravity  

2-668 

2-66Q 

Williamsite  is  a  variety  of  serpentine  found  in  Texas,  Lan- 
caster County,  Pa.,  and  in  Maryland.  Owing  to  its  rich  green 
color,  and  the  ease  with  which  it  can  be  cut,  it  has  been  used  to  a 

1  Cf.   Building  and  Ornamental  Stones  of  the   United  States,  by  George  P.  Merrill,  Pop. 
Sci.  Monthly,  Vol.  27,  p.  520. 

8  Contributions  to  Mineralogy  (1876). 


188 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


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UNITED   STATES,    CANADA   AND   MEXICO 


189 


limited  extent  in  jewelry  for  charms  and  other  ornaments.  It  is 
usually  of  a  more  pleasing  color  than  jade,  and  varies  from  a  dark 
green  to  light  apple-green  and  emerald-green  shades.  William- 
site  is  one  of  the  handsomest  known  opaque  or  transparent  stones, 
rivaling  in  richness  many  of  the  varieties  of  green  jade.  The 
grayish-green  serpentinous  substance  found  at  Pelham,  Mass., 
named  pelhamine  by  Prof.  Charles  U.  Shepard,  admits  of  a  very 
good  polish,  which  produces  a  curious  effect. 

Microlite  has  been  found  at  the  Allen  Mica  Mines,  in  Amelia 
Court  House,  Amelia  County,  Va.,  in  beautiful  crystals,  some  of 
which  weigh  4  pounds  each,  but  are  opaque.  The  finest  of  these, 

MICROLITE 


Color  

Hyacinth  Red. 

86'Ai; 

7"74 

O"IO 

Stannic  Acid  (Binoxide  of  Tin)  

roc 

ir8o 

roi 

O"*4. 

P5Q 

Yttria                                       

O"2T. 

|         0-17 

o-n 

O"2Q 

2-86 

O'2Q 

2-85 

Water         

I'I7 

6-0 

5-656 

Amelia  County,  Va. 

1  Analyst,  F.  P.  Dunnington.     Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  22,  82  and  25,  335. 

a  transparent  specimen,  is  in  the  cabinet  of  Clarence  S.  Bement ; 
it  is  about  1  of  an  inch  long,  and  in  part  a  rich  honey-yellow,  hav- 
ing all  the  color  of  topazolite,  with  a  higher  lustre.  Some  crystals 
are  of  sufficient  transparency  to  afford  gems  ranging  in  color 
from  an  essonite-red  to  a  rich  spinel-yellow  and  are  of  remarkable 
brilliancy.  Microlite  has  the  highest  specific  gravity  of  any 
known  gem,  being  about  6.1 

Meerschaum,  or  sepiolite,  has  occasionally  been  met  with  in 
compact  masses  of  smooth,  earthy  texture  in  the  serpentine  quar- 

1  See  A  Transparent  Crystal  of  Microlite,  by  William  E.  Hidden,  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  30, 

p.  82,  July,  1885. 


GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES   IN   THE 

ries  of  Mest  Nottingham  Township,  Chester  County,  Pa. 
Only  a  few  pieces  have  been  found,  but  they  were  of  good  qual- 
ity. It  also  occurs  in  grayish  and  yellowish-white  masses  in  the 
serpentine  in  Concord,  Delaware  County,  Pa.  Masses  of  pure 
white  material,  weighing  a  pound  each,  have  been  found  in  Middle- 
town,  in  the  same  county,  and  of  equally  good  quality  at  the 
Cheever  Iron  Mine,  Richmond,  Mass.,  in  pieces  over  an  inch 
across ;  also  in  the  serpentine  at  New  Rochelle,  Westchester 
County,  N.  Y. 

Apatite  is  found  in  such  remarkably  perfect  and  fine-colored 
crystals  in  the  tourmaline  locality  of  Auburn,  Me.,  that  the  hill  on 
which  it  occurs  has  been  named  Mount  Apatite.  The  crystals  are 
transparent  green,  pink,  and  violet,  and  so  closely  resemble 
tourmaline  as  to  have  been  mistaken  for  it.  Some  of  the  local 
collectors  attempted  to  cut  them,  but  without  success,  for  the 
hardness  is  too  low  for  a  transparent  gem. 

Beryllonite  was  first  found  near  Stoneham,  Me.,  in  1886,  and 
this  is  still  the  only  locality  known.  Owing  to  the  great  trans- 
parency and  brilliancy  of  the  mineral,  as  well  as  its  form  of  crys- 
tallization, it  at  first  suggested  topaz,  and  was  for  a  time  over- 
looked, but  Prof.  E.  S.  Dana  on  examination  found  it  to  be  a  new 
species,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  beryllonite.1  It  was  analyzed 
by  Horace  L.  Wells,  of  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School,  who  found 
that  it  had  the  following  composition  : 

Phosphoric  Acid 55'86 

Beryllium  Oxide 19*84 

Soda 23-64 

Moisture . .                                   0-08 


99-42 

From  which  the  formula  NaaO.2BeO.P2O5,or  NaBePO4  was 
deduced. 

Its  hardness  was  found  to  be  5*6  to  6  and  its  specific  grav- 
ity 2*84.  From  the  great  number  of  its  cavities  filled  with  water 
or  carbon  dioxide,  its  lustre  and  the  iridescence  of  the  crystals 
when  viewed  from  the  pyramid  face,  it  strikingly  resembles  the 
white  topaz  of  Stoneham,  Me.  The  transparency  and  brilliancy 
of  this  mineral  fit  it  for  a  mineralogical  gem. 

1  See  Description  of  the  New  Mineral,  Beryllonite,  by  Edward  S.  Dana  and  Horace  L. 
Wells.     Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  37,  p.   23,  Jan.  1889. 


UNITED   STATES,   CANADA   AND   MEXICO 


Lazulite  is  found  in  dark-blue  crystals  and  crystalline  masses 
at  Crowder's  and  Chubb's  Mountains  in  Gaston  County,  and 
at  Coffee  Gap,  Sauratown,  Stokes  County,  N.  C.  At  Graves 
Mount,  Lincoln  County,  Ga.,  however,  are  found  the  finest  sky- 
blue  and  dark-blue  crystals  known,  often  measuring  from  £  an 
inch  to  2  inches  in  length,  and  quite  compact,  and  of  good  color. 

LAZULITE 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

S-C3 

£•§.< 

a 

• 

| 
« 

~  *J 
£•0 

5  H 

S.O 

P  • 
3~ 

i 

i 
i 

1 

* 

it 

xS 

II 

WO 

Theoretical  Composition 

Blue.'.!'. 
Blue 

North  Carolina  l... 
North  Carolina*. 

46-80 
43'38 

34-00 
31-22 

8-29 

8"o? 

13*20 

io'o6 

1-07 

6'oo 
5'68 

5*0-6*0 

Typical  Analysis  

Blue  

Keewatin,  Canada  3 

46'39 

29-14 

2*09 

I3'84 

2-83 

I.  _ 

6-47 

sH 

3'°44 

',  '  Analysts,  Smith  &  Brush.    Dana,  Mineralogy,  $th  Ed.,  p.  572. 

»  Analyst,  C.  Hoffman.    Hoffman,  Report  of  Geol.  of  Can.,  1878-79,  p.  (1-8). 

Its  hardness  is  6,  and  its  specific  gravity  is  3'i22.  This  mineral 
would  make  an  opaque  gem  or  an  ornamental  stone,  as  the  color, 
though  lighter,  is  often  as  rich  as  that  of  lapis  lazuli,  for  which  it 
was  mistaken  when  first  found. 

Cassiterite  has  not  been  observed  in  fine  crystals,  what  has 
been  found  being  clear  enough  to  cut  only  small  transparent 
gems.  The  wood-tin  of  Durango,  Mex.,  is  used  to  a  very  limited 
extent  on  the  Pacific  coast,  the  stone  being  simply  polished  flat, 
and  strikingly  resembles  a  dark  wood.  The  finer  crystals  of  cas- 

CASSITERITE 


„_ 

B  . 

a- 

COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

i-fip 

3 

11 

1" 

i 

1 

§ 

1'f 

803*8 

35 

§0 

too 

j 

a 

5* 

WU 

- 

H 

n 

Brownish  white 

to  reddish  brown  . 

Rockbridge  Co.,  Va.1. 

94-895 

0-760 

0-327 

3-4I8 

0-244 

0-027 

0-38S 

6-536 

i  Am.  Chem.  Jour.,  Vol.  6.  p.  187. 


siterite  found  at  Hebron,  Auburn,  Norway,  and  Paris,  Me.,  would 
afford  mineralogical  gems.  The  claims  in  the  Temescal  Range, 
in  San  Bernardino  County,  as  well  as  the  locality  near  San  Diego, 
Cal.,  may  yet  yield  specimens  of  this  mineral  equal  to  that  from 
Durango,  Mex.  The  important  occurrence  at  the  Broad  Arrow 
Mines,  two  miles  from  Ashland,  Clay  County,  Ala.,  may  pro- 
duce both  the  crystals  and  the  stream-tin.  No  transparent 


192  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

crystals  have  been  found  at  the  Black  Hills,  Dak.  William  P. 
Blake  mentions  finding  on  Jordan  Creek,  Owyhee  County, 
Idaho,  a  very  fine  specimen  of  wood  tin,  i  to  £  inch  across,  and 
of  a  very  pure  and  clear  material.  Cassiterite  has  also  been 
found  in  large  quantities  at  King's  Mountain,  N.  C.,  and  in 
Rockbridge  County,  Va.,  though  none  of  these  places  has 
yielded  a  single  fine  gem,  or  has  as  yet  been  worked  with  com- 
mercial success  for  tin. 

With  the  exception  of  small,  richly-colored  pieces  that  have 
been  discovered  near  Gainesville,  Ga.,  hematite  is  rarely  com- 
pact enough  for  cutting,  although  one  of  the  most  abundant 
ores  of  iron,  and  found  in  many  localities  in  the  United  States. 
Most  of  the  gems  that  are  sold  in  the  United  States  come  from 
abroad,  where  the  mineral  and  labor  of  cutting  are  inexpensive. 
The  foreign  material  used  is  the  straight,  compact,  fibrous  vari- 
ety, and  is  usually  cut  in  the  form  of  small  balls,  which  are  sup- 
posed to  resemble  black  pearls,  but  their  lustre  is  higher  and 
more  metallic.  It  is  also  cut  into  cubes,  into  various  charms  and 
;  intaglio  cane-heads. 

Lodestone,  or  native  magnet,  is  the  iron  oxide  that  pos- 
sesses magnetic  properties.  Although  not  used  as  a  gem  at 
present,  it  was  worn  centuries  ago  for  the  power  it  was  supposed 
to  possess  and  for  the  charm  it  was  presumed  to  give  the  wearer. 
Large  quantities  of  it  are  found  at  Magnet  Cove,  Ark.  It  is 
estimated  that  several  tons  are  sold  annually  to  the  southern 
negroes  to  be  used  by  the  voudoos,  who  employ  it  as  a  conjuring 
stone.  In  July,  1887,  an  interesting  case  was  tried  in  Macon, 
Ga.,  where  a  negro  woman  sued  a  conjurer  to  recover  $5  which 
she  had  paid  him  for  a  piece  to  serve  as  a  charm  to  bring  back 
her  wandering  husband.  As  the  market  price  of  the  magnet 
was  only  seventy  cents  a  pound,  the  judge  ordered  the  money 
refunded. 

Rutile  is  pure  titanium  oxide.  Specimens  from  Graves 
Mountain,  Lincoln  County,  Ga.,  and  from  Alexander  County, 
N.  C.,  rival  any  that  have  been  found;  the  former  for  beauty  of 
color,  polish  and  sharpness  of  crystals,  as  well  as  for  their  great 
size,  and  the  latter  for  their  perfection,  wonderful  polish,  and 
fine  color.  At  Graves  Mountain,  rutile  occurs  with  lazulite. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  193 

The  rutile  crystals  are  in  nearly  all  cases  imbedded  in  a 
compact  red  oxide  of  iron  that  can  be  readily  removed  by 
hydrochloric  acid,  or  by  means  of  some  sharp  instrument,  leav- 
ing on  the  surfaces  a  mirror-like  polish.  The  crystals  vary  in 
length  from  ^  an  inch  up  to  5  inches,  and  are  in  single  crystals, 
twins,  and  vierlings,  often  in  fine  groups.  The  rutile  from  this 
locality  has  realized  at  least  $20,000  for  cabinet  specimens,  and 
has  supplied  the  collections  of  the  world  through  the  perse- 
verance of  Prof.  Charles  U.  Shepard.  The  finest  small  brilliant 
geniculated  crystals  are  found  at  Millholland's  Mills,  White 
Plains,  near  Liberty  Church,  and  near  Popular  Springs,  in  Alex- 
ander County,  N.  C.  These  have  furnished  some  of  the  finest 
cut  black  rutile,  more  closely  approaching  the  black  diamond  in 
appearance  than  any  other  gem.  Some  of  the  lighter  colored 
ones  furnish  gems  strongly  resembling  common  garnet.  Beauti- 
ful long  crystals,  at  times  transparent  red,  ranging  from  the 
thickness  of  a  hair  to  ^  and  in  some  instances  f  inch  across,  and 
from  i  inch  to  6  inches  in  length,  often  doubly  terminated  and 
very  brilliant,  have  been  found  at  Taylorsville,  Stony  Point  and 
vicinity,  North  Carolina.  Fine  crystals  are  also  found  in 
quartz  as  well  as  loose  in  the  soil  in  Sadsbury  Township,  Pa., 
for  seven  miles  along  the  valley,  especially  near  Parkesburgh, 
where  double  geniculations  forming  complete  circles  have  been 
found,  some  weighing  over  a  pound  each.  This  is  the 
"money  stone"  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  district,  who  search  for 
it  because  they  can  obtain  money  for  it  from  the  collectors  ; 
hence  the  name.  Some  of  the  finer  stones,  as  well  as  the  beau- 
tiful geniculated  nigrine  from  Magnet  Cove,  would  well  serve 
as  natural  ornaments.  As  early  as  1836,  the  rutile  of  Middle- 
town,  Conn.,  was  cut  by  Prof.  Charles  U.  Shepard  into  gems 
that  were  almost  ruby-red  in  color.  On  St.  Peter's  Dome,  in 
the  Pike's  Peak  region,  jet-black  rutile  occurs  as  black  tetrag- 
onal crystals  about  £  inch  (10  millimeters)  long. 

Octahedrite  is  reported  as  occurring  in  small  crystals  at 
Dexter's  lime  rock,  Smithfield,  R.  I.,  and  in  flat,  tabular,  glassy 
crystals  of  a  pale-green  color  and  very  brilliant,  in  the  gold 
sands  of  Brindletown  Creek  and  elsewhere  in  Burke  and  the 
adjoining  counties  of  North  Carolina.  These  would  probably 


I94 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS     STONES    IN    THE 


afford  small  gems  that  would  compare  favorably  with  the  beauti- 
ful blue  crystals  from  Brazil,  which  are  so  brilliant  as  to  have 
been  mistaken  for  diamonds. 

When  the  lead  mines  at  Ellenville,  Ulster  County,  N.  Y., 
were  worked  in  1858,  some  remarkable  flat  ruby-red  crystals  of 
brookite  were  found  on  the  quartz  crystals  ;  and  at  Magnet  Cove, 
Ark.,  brilliant  crystals  of  the  variety  of  this  mineral  known  as 
arkansite  are  found  in  great  profusion,  at  times  transparent 
and  of  honey-yellow  color.  The  mineral  does  not  readily 
admit  of  polish,  and  hence  has  little  use  as  a  gem. 

Compact  titanic  iron  admits  of  a  high  polish,  especially  the 
porphyritic  menaccanite  from  Cumberland,  R.  I.,  in  which  the 
included  quartz  crystals  form  a  very  pretty  contrast  with  the 
deep  black  color  of  the  polished  titanic  iron.  It  has  been  cut 
for  ornaments  to  some  extent  by  Edwin  Passmore,  of  Hope, 
R.  I.,  and  resembles  a  dark  black  porphyry.  At  Magnet  Cove, 
Ark.,  ilmenite  or  titanic  iron  is  found  in  fine  bright  crystals, 
which  take  a  brilliant  polish  and  form  natural  ornaments  of 
considerable  beauty. 

Titanite  or  sphene  is  met  with  abundantly  in  black  and 
brown  crystals  in  St.  Lawrence  and  Orange  Counties,  N.  Y. 

TITANITE  (SPHENE) 


a 

COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

*3 

M2-C 

C  ^'3 

•p 

i 

Rrt 

a 

po 

1   o 

u.5 

,J 

S 

Theoretical  Composition 

28  '28 

Analysis  

Lehigh  Co.,  Perm.1 
Statesville,  N.  C.a. 

34'8/ 

43'4» 

^8°13 

*i'°6i 

21  75 

i  Specific  Gravity,  3-45.    Analysts.  E.  B.  Knerr  and  E.  F.  Smith.    Knerr  and  Smith,  Am.  CHem.  Jour.,  Vol.  6,  411. 
J  Ignition,  o'6o;  Specific  Gravity,  3-477.    Analyst,  F.  A.  Genth.    F.  A.  Genth,  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.,  1886,  23,  30. 

Some  remarkably  fine  crystals  of  titanite  have  been  found  at 
Bridgewater,  Bucks  County,  Pa.  Certain  of  these,  over  an  inch 
long,  and  very  transparent  in  parts,  are  of  rich  greenish-yellow 
and  vitreous  golden  shades,  equaling  in  color  the  finest  from 
Tyrol,  and  would  afford  gems  weighing  from  10  to  20  carats 
each,  that  would  show  a  play  of  colors  rather  adamantine  than 
opalescent.  Fine  crystals  from  this  locality  are  now  in  the 
cabinet  of  Clarence  S.  Bement,  the  William  S.  Vaux  Cabinet, 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia,  and  the  Peabody 
Museum,  New  Haven.  Many  yellow  crystals  over  an  inch  long 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  195 

have  been  found  in  the  hornblendic  gneiss  on  the  Schuylkill 
River,  near  Philadelphia,  and  in  yellow  crystals  with  sunstone, 
in  Kennett  Township,  Chester  County,  Pa.  Some  small  yellow 
crystals  were  found  at  Fort  George,  N.Y.,  by  William  Niven,  one 
of  which  was  cut  into  a  transparent  gem  weighing  i  of  a  carat. 
Diana,  Lewis  County,  N.  Y.,  was  a  famous  locality  thirty  years 
ago,  but  crystals  from  there  are  now  scarcely  mentioned  since 
the  large  dark-brown  ones  have  been  discovered  at  various 
places  in  Canada. 

Malachite,  although  occurring  in  many  localities  in  the 
United  States,  and  occasionally  in  considerable  abundance,  as 
one  of  the  ores,  or  associated  with  other  ores  or  copper,  is 
obtained  in  gem  form  only  in  Arizona,  chiefly  at  the  Copper 
Queen  Mine,  at  Bisbee.  One  mass  weighing  15  pounds  is  now 
in  the  State  Museum  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  others,  nearly  as 
large,  and  equaling  the  Russian  in  quality,  have  been  found, 
which,  by  piecing,  will  furnish  table-tops.  One  of  the  finest 
specimens  of  the  velvety  form  of  crystals  is  a  piece  from  the 
side  of  a  large  cavity,  over  a  foot  across,  in  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York  City.  It  is  one  side 
of  a  geode  filled  with  stalactites  coated  with  the  richest  deep- 
green,  velvet-like  crystals  of  malachite.  Many  of  the  stalactites 
at  Bisbee  are  over  a  foot  long,  an  inch  across,  and  are  often 
curiously  entwined.  Veins,  of  this  mineral  from  i  to  4  inches 
thick  have  also  been  found  there.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
thousands  of  tons  of  this  beautiful  mineral  have  been  put  into 
the  furnace  for  the  copper  it  contains.  One  very  fine,  compact, 
fibrous  mass  of  dark-green  malachite  from  the  McCullock  Mine, 
that  would  cut  into  a  cube  an  inch  square,  is  in  the  cabinet  of 
Clarence  S.  Bement.  Hoffmann  mentions  malachite  in  massive 
concretions  in  Copper  Canon,  Galena  district,  and  at  Mineral 
Hill,  Nev.  At  Ducktown,  Tenn.,  some  fine,  radiated  masses 
have  been  found  that'would  polish  well.  At  the  Jones  Mine, 
Berks  County,  Pa.,  very  dark-green  and  finely  mottled  mala- 
chite was  found  that  would  cut  into  gems  over  2  inches  across. 
Some  of  the  finest  of  these  specimens  are  in  the  cabinet  of  Will- 
iam W.  Jefferis.  The  material  from  this  locality  equals  that 
from  Arizona,  but  the  supply  is  very  limited.  Malachite  is 


196 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


found  in  North  Carolina,  in  Guilford,  Cabarrus,  and  Mecklen- 
burgh  Counties.  The  fibrous  variety  has  been  observed  at 
Silver  Hill  and  at  Conrad  Hill,  in  Davidson  County,  and  in  a 
number  of  other  localities  in  North  Carolina,  but  is  rarely  of 
any  gem  value.  In  the  Torrey  Collection  at  the  United  States 
Assay  Office,  in  New  York  City,  are  a  few  fine  gem  pieces  of 
malachite  from  the  Copper  Knob  Mine  in  Ashe  County,  N.  C. 

MALACHITE 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

4>  tj 

H 

uo 

STJ 

~  '3 

£o 

Carbonic 
Acid. 

1 
£ 

«  £* 

11 

Theoretical  Composition  . 

71  "QO 

IQ'QO 

8'2O 

Analysis  

Green  .... 

Wheatly  Mine,  Penn1   . 

7I"J.6 

i  Analyst,  J.  L.  Smith.    J.  Lawrence  Smith,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (2),  20,  249. 

At  Morenci,  Ariz.,  there  have  been  found  masses  of  azurite  and 
malachite  resulting  from  the  alteration  of  azurite.  These 
masses  are  botryoidal  in  form,  so  that  if  the  tops  of  the  spheres 
are  cut  across,  the  two  minerals  are  shown  in  distinct  alternate 
layers  (often  two  to  four  layers  of  each)  and  bandings,  forming 
most  beautiful  ornamental  stones,  which  are  often  from  i  to  6 
inches  across,  and  admit  of  a  very  high  polish,  that  produces 

AZURITE 


COLOR. 

LOCALITY. 

u    . 

uo 

Carbonic 
Acid. 

S 

ic  5J» 

11 

u?O 

Analyst. 

Theoretical 
Composition  .... 

60/20 

2*;  '60 

T2O 

Deep  blue  .  . 

Wheatly  Mine,  Penn  .  . 

p1 
6o,'4i 

24-08 

5  -84 

V88 

J.  L.  Smith.1 

1  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  Am.  J.  Sci.  (3),  20,  250. 


a  novel  and  pleasing  effect.  If  it  were  found  in  sufficient 
quantity,  it  would  make  a  valuable  ornamental  stone.  Rus- 
kin  has  likened  this  combination  of  colors  to  the  "  green  of 
the  fields  and  the  blue  of  the  sky,"  and  notwithstanding  the 
strong  contrast,  the  blending  makes  it  a  harmonious  one.  The 
association  is  entirely  new  and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  ever 
found.  There  is  little  or  no  demand  for  this  stone  outside  of 
Russia,  where  clocks,  jewel-caskets,  mantels,  table-tops,  and 
doors  are  covered  with  a  thin  veneer  of  carefully-pieced  mala- 
chite, cemented  on  slate  or  marble,  not  made  of  solid  blocks  as 
is  often  supposed. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  197 

With  the  malachite  at  Copper  Queen  Mine  is  a  variety 
which  has  proved  on  examination  to  consist  of  equal  parts  of 
carbonate  of  lime  and  carbonate  of  copper.  This  is  slightly 
harder  than  malachite,  and  the  name,  calcomalachite,  indicating 
its  composition,  has  recently  been  suggested  for  it.  Like  mala- 
chite, it  admits  of  a  fine  polish  and  is  susceptible  of  similar 
uses. 

A  beautiful  compact  chrysocolla,  mixed  with  quartz,  is 
found  at  the  Allouez  Mine,  Houghton,  Lake  Superior  region. 
Some  of  the  specimens  would  furnish  fine,  rich,  bluish-green 
gems  half  an  inch  square.  Specimens  of  chrysocolla  from  the  Cop- 
per Queen  Mine,  Ariz.,  coated  with  quartz  and  chalcedony,  fur- 
nish beautiful  gems  when  the  polish  on  the  layer  of  quartz  chalce- 
dony is  thin  enough  to  allow  the  chrysocolla  to  show  through. 
In  one  case,  these  markings  resembled  a  human  head. 

Aragonite  (carbonate  of  lime)  or  "satin  spar,"  from  near 
Dubuque,  Iowa,  especially  that  from  Rice's  Cave,  and  in  the  re- 
markably fine  forms  known  as  the  "  floss  ferri  "  variety,  from 
near  Rapid  City,  Dak.,  would  admit  of  the  same  uses  as  com- 
mon satin  spar.  The  satin  spar  gypsum  or  sulphate  of  lime, 
while  made  so  extensively  into  ornaments  and  sold  at  Niagara 
Falls  and  many  tourists'  resorts,  is,  almost  without  exception,  im- 
ported from  Wales,  though  some  few  of  the  common  white 
gypsum  ornaments  sold  at  Niagara  are  cut  from  the  gypsum 
found  in  the  vicinity.  On  Goat  Island  large  masses  of  gypsum 
are  found,  and  occasionally  even  under  the  Falls,  where  the  ma- 
terial for  all  the  ornaments  sold  there  is  supposed  to  be  found. 
Beautiful  selenite  occurs  there,  but  no  satin  spar. 

The  dark  amber-colored  and  brown  aragonite  (California 
onyx)  from  California  is  extensively  used  as  an  ornamental 
stone,  but  not  as  a  gem  stone.  Many  thousands  of  dollars' 
worth  are  annually  used  by  marble  workers  and  for  decorative 
purposes. 

In  the  Luray  and  other  American  caves  are  found  calcare- 
ous concretions  called  cave  pearls,  which  consist  either  of 
pieces  of  stalagmite  worn  round  by  falling  water  or  of  similar 
pieces  forming  nuclei  on  which  successive  layers  of  carbonate 
of  lime  have  been  deposited. 


198  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

Fossil  corals,  consisting  of  carbonate  of  lime,  often  possess 
great  structural  beauty  and  are  very  compact  and  susceptible 
of  high  polish.  Along  the  shores  of  Little  Traverse  Bay,  at  Pe- 
toskey,  Mich.,  are  found  water-worn  pieces  of  fossil  coral 
of  various  species,  ranging  from  fragments  the  size  of  a 
small  pebble  to  masses  of  2  or  3  pounds  weight.  The  spaces  or 
cells  of  these  corals  are  entirely  filled  with  carbonate  of  lime, 
and  being  very  compact,  they  take  a  fine  polish.  In  color  they 
are  of  various  shades  of  gray,  and  many  of  them  are  exceed- 
ingly handsome.  Visitors  to  Petoskey,  which  is  a  popular 
summer  resort,  gather  the  corals,  and  to  show  the  structure 
keep  them  in  bottles  of  water  or  give  them  a  coat  of  var- 
nish. The  lapidaries  of  the  place  cut  and  polish  these  corals, 
and  at  present  probably  $4,000  or  $5,000  worth  are  annually 
sold  by  them,  either  polished  on  one  side,  or  in  the  form  of 
seals,  charms,  cuff-buttons,  paper-weights,  and  other  ornaments. 
They  are  first  ground  on  a  Berea  grindstone,  then  a  polish  is 
put  on  with  four  successive  grades  of  emery,  and  they  are  finally 
polished  on  Spanish  felt  moistened  with  oxalic  acid  and  lead 
ashes.  The  fossil  corals  found  near  Dubuque  and  Iowa  City, 
Iowa,  are  magnificent  in  color  and  structure,  and  fine  pieces 
often  exceed  a  foot  in  width.  They  have  been  used  to  some 
extent  in  jewelry,  shaped  into  stones  for  cuff,  shirt,  and  vest 
buttons,  the  light  cream-color  making  a  very  quiet,  rich  stone 
for  this  purpose. 

Pyrite  or  sulphide  of  iron  is  found  in  many  localities  in  the 
United  States,  and  one  variety  occurs  in  crusts  or  groups  of 
small,  brilliant  crystals  with  slate  in  the  coal  regions.  These 
crusts  are  trimmed  and  cut  into  ovals,  squares,  and  other  shapes, 
and  sold  for  mounting  as  scarf-pins,  lace-pins,  ear-rings,  and 
ring-stones,  as  well  as  other  ornaments.  Fine  single  crystals 
are  also  sold  for  ornaments,  principally  at  Mauch  Chunk  and 
the  summit  of  the  Switchback  Railway,  and  by  the  local  jewelers 
at  Ashland,  Shenandoah,  and  Mahanoy  City,  in  Schuylkill 
County,  who  obtain  their  finest  specimens  from  the  Raven  Run 
Mine,  six  miles  from  Mahanoy  City,  Pa.  Magnificent  groups 
and  fine  single  crystals  with  a  very  high  polish  have  been  found 
at  Black  Hawk  and  other  mines  in  Colorado  and  sold  for 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  199 

ornaments  just  as  they  are  found,  principally  at  Denver,  Color- 
ado Springs,  and  other  places  in  the  West.  Perhaps  $1,000 
worth  a  year  is  disposed  of  in  this  way.  The  Colorado  crystals 
are  compact  enough  to  cut  into  the  faceted  gem  known  in  Europe 
as  "  marcasite,"  which  was  extensively  mounted  in  gold  during 
the  last  century,  but  has  been  almost  entirely  superseded  by 
the  introduction  of  bright  steel  jewelry. 

Cobaltite,  a  sulphide  of  cobalt,  is  occasionally  cut  abroad  to 
be  used  as  a  gem  and  then  resembles  a  flesh-colored  pyrite.  It 
is  not  found  of  fair  quality  anywhere  in  the  United  States. 

Little  amber  of  commercial  value  has  been  found  in  the 
United  States.  Though  its  occurrence  in  several  places  has  been 
noted,  the  specimens  are  believed  to  be  derived  from  a  species 
of  tree  quite  different  from  those  which  yield  the  Baltic  amber. 
The  earliest  description  of  amber  found  in  this  country  is 
given  by  Dr.  Gerald  Troost,1  who  describes  two  varieties,  one 
opaque,  the  other  translucent,  which  had  been  discovered  at 
Cape  Sable,  Magothy  River,  Anne  Arundel  County,  Md.  Both 
these  varieties  showed  a  mixture  of  the  various  shades  of  yellow, 
gray,  and  brown,  the  colors  being  sometimes  arranged  in  nearly 
concentric  zones  displaying  the  most  beautiful  tints,  and  some- 
times in  alternate  bands,  spots,  dots,  and  clouds,  as  in  agate  or 
jasper.  Some  of  this  amber  was  also  wax-  or  honey-yellow. 
The  transparent  variety,  which  in  external  appearance  resembled 
colophony  gum  and  had  a  high  lustre,  was  sparingly  found. 
The  opaque  variety  is  described  as  "  very  dull."  Both  varieties 
broke  easily  and  exhibited  a  perfectly  conchoidal  fracture,  their 
hardness  being  identical  with  that  of  the  amber  found  near  the 
Baltic  Sea.  Their  specific  gravity  varied  from  1*07  to  1*08, 
the  difference  being  due,  in  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Troost,  to  small 
particles  of  pyrites  with  which  the  cavities  were  sometimes 
lined.  Some  of  the  specimens  were  only  slightly  electrical, 
while  others  exhibited  this  quality  in  a  greater  degree.  Dr. 
Troost  also  described  a  variety  of  amber  which  occurred  in 
fragments  or  friable,  porous  masses,  of  about  the  size  of  a  wal- 
nut, mixed  with  iron  pyrites,  and  having  a  dull,  earthy  aspect. 
These  fragments,  which  were  all  found  in  an  alluvial  formation, 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  I.,  Vol.  3,  p.  8,  Jan.  1821. 


2OO  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

could  be  crumbled  easily  when  rubbed  between  the  fingers, 
and  in  external  appearance  resembled  clods  of  loam  or 
of  stiff  soil.  They  were  of  a  gray  or  yellowish-gray 
color,  and  when  burned  gave  out  the  odor,  and  indeed 
seemed  to  possess  the  other  properties,  of  melted  amber. 
But  few  specimens  of  the  amber  described  by  Dr.  Troost  are 
found  in  the  collections  of  this  country ;  his  conclusions, 
however,  are  accepted  as  correct.  A  small  specimen  of  the 
Magothy  River  amber  came  into  the  writer's  possession 
from  a  collection  made  about  fifty  years  ago.  This  resembles 
the  Baltic  amber  more  closely  than  does  that  from  New  Jersey. 
The  specimen  is  a  fractured  piece,  transparent,  rich  reddish- 
brown  and  yellow  in  color,  like  some  of  the  beautiful  amber 
from  Catania,  Sicily.  It  is  believed  that  further  search  in  this 
vicinity  would  lead  to  other  discoveries.  Dr.  Philip  R.  Uhler  is 
authority  for  the  statement  that  amber  has  been  found  in  a 
lignite  bed  about  twenty-five  miles  from  Baltimore,  but  in  very 
small  quantities.  In  New  Jersey  it  has  been  found  in  a  great  num- 
ber of  localities.  As  early  as  1762,  John  Bartram,  in  a  letter 
to  Dr.  Elliot,  states  that  amber  was  found  in  New  Jersey  near 
the  Delaware  "  in  pieces  nearly  a  pound  in  weight,  and  fitted  to 
make  a  good  cane-head."  Prof.  George  H.  Cook,  State  Geolo- 
gist of  New  Jersey,  says1  that  amber  is  found  irregularly  dis- 
tributed in  all  parts  of  the  marl  region.  Marl-pits  in  every 
county  of  the  region  have  furnished  specimens,  but  the  finding 
of  one  specimen  does  not  insure  the  finding  of  others  in  the 
same  locality.  Pieces  enough  to  have  filled  a  barrel  are 
said  to  have  been  taken  from  one  marl-pit  at  Shark  River, 
about  the  year  1856,  but  since  that  time,  in  looking  over 
many  hundreds  of  tons  of  marl,  not  a  fragment  was  found.  The 
mineral  is  yellow  in  color,  but  is  not  so  compact  or  so  lustrous 
as  good  specimens  of  foreign  amber. 

Prof.  Henry  D.  Rogers,  State  Geologist  of  Pennsylvania, 
mentions  the  occurrence  of  amber  twice."  At  Vincentown,  Bur- 
lington County,  N.  J.,  it  was  found  with  asphaltum  in  the  creta- 
ceous marl  above  the  green  sand.  The  locality  was  reported  by 

1  The  Geology  of  New  Jersey  (Newark,  1868),  p.  283. 

8  Description  of  the  Geology  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey  (Philadelphia,  1840). 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  2OI 

Dr.  E.  Goldsmith  to  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural  Sci- 
ences, and  the  specimens,  described  as  having  a  specific  gravity 
less  than  i,  fusing  so  as  to  be  quite  mobile,  were  regarded  by 
him  as  related  to  the  variety  of  succinite  called  "krantzite."  Dr. 
Charles  C.  Abbott l  mentions  having  several  times  found,  in  the 
bed  of  Cresswick's  Creek,  small  grains  or  pebbles  of  amber  which 
he  gave  to  William  S.  Vaux  of  Philadelphia,  and  which  are  now 
in  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences.  One  of  these  pieces  meas- 
ures 1x4x5  inches  in  thickness.  He  suggests  that  they  are 
derived  from  beds  of  clay  which  are  exposed  in  the  bluff  forming 
the  southern  bank  of  the  creek.  There  are  cretaceous  clays 
near  Trenton,  in  which  occurs  much  fossil  wood,  in  and  upon 
which  the  occurrence  of  grains  of  amber  is  not  unusual.  These 
grains  are  usually  very  small  and  difficult  to  detect.  The  wood 
is  soft  and  recent  in  appearance,  burning  with  an  uncertain, 
flickering  flame,  and  the  amber  is  evidently  the  fossilized  sap 
of  the  wood  found  in  these  deposits  of  clay.  This  same  locality 
is  referred  to  in  Comstock's  "Mineralogy"  (Boston,  1827).  Dr. 
Nathaniel  L.  Britton  has  observed  traces  of  amber  near  Cam- 
den,  in  the  cretaceous  deposits.  In  February,  1883,  the  writer 
described "  a  mass  of  amber  20  inches  long,  6  inches  wide,  and 
i  inch  thick,  weighing  64  ounces,  that  had  been  found  on  Old 
Man's  Creek,  near  Harrisonville,  Gloucester  County,  by  Joseph 
B.  Livezey.  A  quarter-inch  section  showed  a  grayish-yellow 
color,  while  a  similar  section,  i£  inches  thick,  showed  the  color  to 
be  a  light,  transparent  yellowish-brown.  The  entire  mass  was 
filled  with  botryoidal-shaped  cavities  filled  with  "glauconite" 
or  green  sand  and  traces  of  vivianite.  Its  hardness  was  very 
nearly  the  same  as  that  of  the  Baltic  amber,  but  it  was  perhaps 
slightly  tougher,  cutting  more  like  horn,  the  cut  surface  show- 
ing a  curious  pearly  lustre,  differing  in  this  respect  from  any 
other  amber  yet  examined.  The  lustre  is  not  produced  by  the 
impurities,  for  the  clearest  parts  show  it  best,  and  the  amber 
admits  of  a  good  polish.  The  specific  gravity  of  a  very  pure 
piece  of  this  amber  was  found  to  be  i'o6i.  This  figure  may 
be  attributable  to  internal  cavities,  amber  usually  ranging  from 

1  Science,  Vol.  I,  p.  594. 

*  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  25,  p.  234,  March,  1883. 


2O2  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

1*065  to  i'o8i.  The  specimen  examined  was  found  at  a  depth  of 
28  feet,  in  a  six-foot  stratum  of  the  middle  marl-bed,  in  and 
under  20  feet  of  cretaceous  marl.  In  1886,  a  piece  of  amber 
was  found  on  the  southwest  branch  of  Mantua  Creek,  near 
Sewell,  Gloucester  County,  N.  J.,  in  the  lower  marl  bed.  Prof. 
Washington  C.  Kerr  mentions  the  finding  of  succinite  (amber)  in 
lumps  of  several  ounces  weight,  in  Pitt  County  and  elsewhere 
in  the  Tertiary  marl  beds  of  the  eastern  counties  of  North  Car- 
olina. It  is  also  found  along  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware 
Canal  in  Kent  County,  Del.  Dr.  Edward  Hitchcock1  refers  to 
one  or  two  masses  of  amber  weighing  a  pound  that  had  been 
found  in  Martha's  Vineyard,  Gay  Head,  and  Nantucket,  and 
states  his  belief  that  they  were  from  the  Tertiary  formation.  In 
February,  1883,  the  writer  exhibited  and  described  before  the 
New  York  Academy  of  Sciences  an  elongated  and  twisted 
mass  of  opaque,  rich  yellow-colored  amber,  weighing  12 
ounces,  that  had  been  found  on  the  shore  at  Nantucket,  Mass. 
This  specimen,  which  was  evidently  from  the  Tertiary  deposit, 
is  now  in  the  Amherst  College  Cabinet.  Other  specimens  have 
been  found  in  this  locality.  The  discovery  of  specimens  of 
amber  in  one  of  the  Union  Pacific  coal  mines  of  the  Laramie 
Beds,  in  Wyoming,  was  reported  by  F.  F.  Chisholm  in  1885; 
but  at  that  time  the  tests  were  not  completed,  so  that  its  genu- 
ineness could  not  be  asserted.  The  material  that  was  brought 
to  Denver  was  hard,  highly  electric,  and  of  a  good  clear  yellow 
color ;  the  fusing  point  was  a  little  low,  and  the  odor  of  an 
ignited  fragment  slightly  resembled  that  of  burning  india  rub- 
ber. In  places,  the  substance  was  found  two  inches  thick.1 

Amber,  according  to  Charles  G.  Yale,  is  common  in  the 
lignite  deposits  on  the  peninsula  of  Alaska.  It  is  also  obtained 
in  the  alluvium  of  the  delta  of  the  Yukon  River,  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  most  of  the  Tertiary  coal  deposits  on  the  Fox  Islands, 
being  everywhere  an  article  of  ornament  among  the  natives, 
who  carve  it  into  rude  beads.  The  discovery  of  amber  in  large 
quantities  in  America  would  be  of  the  greatest  interest,  for 
here,  as  in  Europe,  it  would  contain  fossil  remains  that  would 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  I.,  Vol.  22,  p.  50,  July,  1832. 

*  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States  for  1885,  p.  442. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


203 


greatly  increase  our  knowledge  of  the  fauna  and  flora  of  past 
ages.  Dr.  Herman  A.  Hagen,  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  a  native 
of  Konigsberg,  in  East  Prussia,  whence  the  principal  supplies  of 
amber  are  obtained,  writes  :  "  When  I  first  saw  the  shores  of 
the  Lakes  Huron  and  Michigan  and  the  Island  of  Mackinaw,  I 
was  so  struck  by  their  resemblance  to  the  shores  of  my  native 
country,  the  very  locality  where  amber  is  found,  that  I  could  not 
help  thinking  that  here  also  amber  would  be  found."1  It  has 
been  shown  by  Goppert  that  amber  has  been  derived  from 
eight  species  of  plants  besides  the  Pinites  succinifer.  He 
enumerates  163  species  as  occurring  in  amber.  No  one  species 
has  been  observed  in  American  amber. 

AMBER 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

Theoretical 
Composition.1 

LOCALITY, 
South  Amboy,  N.  J.» 

Analysis 
by 

Schrotter.3 

Carbon  

78-Q4 

70-68 

78-82 

Hydrogen  

IO'53 

11-62 

IO-2^ 

Oxvp*en 

lo';1? 

7'77 

IO"QC 

Hardness  

2'O—  2't; 

Specific  gravity  

ro8o-ro85 

1  Text  Book  of  Mineralogy  (1871),  by  E.  S.  Dana,  p.  393. 
"  Mineralo] 
Phillips' 


Mineralogy  of  New  York  (1842),  by  L.  C.  Beck,  p.  185. 
'  Mineralogy  (1852),  p.  630. 


Jet  occurs  in  the  Wet  Mountain  Valley,  Trinchera  Mesa, 
southeast  Colorado,  and  in  the  coal  seams  of  most  coal-bearing 
rocks  of  Colorado.  Some  specimens  a  foot  long  and  from  4 
to  5  inches  wide  and  an  inch  thick  have  been  found.  It  is 
sold  only  as  mineral  specimens,  although  it  admits  of  as  fine  a 
polish  as  the  finest  jet  from  Whitby,  Eng.,  where  a  large 
industry  in  the  working  of  this  material  is  carried  on.  The 
beautiful  jet,  rivalling  any  jet  known,  found  in  El  Paso  County, 
Col.,  is  sold  extensively  as  mineralogical  specimens,  but  is  little 
if  at  all  used  for  ornamental  purposes.  This  is  chiefly  owing  to 
the  fact  that  it  has  been  almost  entirely  superseded  by  black 
onyx  in  the  United  States,  owing  to  the  hardness  of  the  onyx 
and  the  cheapness  with  which  it  is  furnished  from  Oberstein 
and  the  Idar.  This  onyx  is  colored  black  by  allowing  the 
chalcedony,  which  is  porous,  to  absorb  some  carbonaceous  sub- 

1  On  Amber  in  North  America,  Proc.  Boston  Soc.  of  Nat.  His.,  Vol.  16,  p.  296,  Feb.,   1874. 


2O4  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

stance,  such  as  sugar,  molasses,  blood,  etc.,  and  then  putting  it 
into  the  sulphuric  acid,  which  chars  the  organic  substance  into 
dead  black. 

Anthracite,  one  of  the  hard  varieties  of  coal,  is  found  in 
many  places  in  eastern  Pennsylvania,  but  the  variety  used  for 
ornaments  is  procured  from  Mountain  Top,  near  Glen  Summit ; 
at  the  Franklin  Mine,  in  Ashley;  the  Spring  Tunnel  Mine,  the 
Summit  Mine,  and  Nanticoke  in  Luzerne  County.  It  is  used 
as  jewelry,  and  for  ornamental  purposes  is  carved  into  various 
trinkets,  such  as  compass-cases,  boots,  hearts,  anchors,  and 
other  small  charms.  It  is  also  turned  into  cups,  saucers,  vases, 
candle-sticks,  and  paper-weights.  The  best  work  is  done  by  a 
one-armed  man  at  Glen  Summit.  Anthracite,  like  jet,  could  be 
made  into  beads  and  round  ornaments  to  be  used  for  scarf-pins, 
lace-pins,  bracelets,  and  similar  articles.  The  objects  made 
often  retain  a  ridge  or  ridges  of  the  rough  coal,  while  the  other 
portions,  being  highly  polished,  form  a  striking  contrast.  These 
articles  are  sold  at  Scranton,  Wilkesbarre,  Pittston,  Mauch 
Chunk,  and  the  Summit  Hill  Station  on  the  Switchback  Rail- 
way, from  $2,500  to  $3,000  being  expended  for  them  annually. 

The  following  minerals  found  in  the  United  States,  when 
fibrous  or  cut  en  cabochon  across  the  cleavages,  will  show  the 
cat's-eye  ray : 

A  dark-brown,  almost  black,  crystal  of  corundum  from 
Ellijay  Creek,  Macon  County,  N.  C.,  when  cut  en  cabochon, 
furnishes  gems  two-thirds  of  an  inch  across,  and  showing 
the  cat's-eye  ray  distinctly.  The  chrysoberyls  of  Stow,  Peru, 
and  Canton,  Me.,  would  cut  into  inferior  cat's-eyes.  The  milky 
beryls  found  at  Stoneham,  Me.,  and  Branchville,  Conn.,  and 
some  of  the  North  Carolina  beryls,  especially  the  fibrous,  green, 
opaque  beryl  from  Alexander  County,  would  furnish  cat's-eyes, 
although  not  very  fine.  The  so-called  "Thetis'  hairstone," 
described  by  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson,  found  at  Cumberland, 
R.  I.,  is  really  quartz  cat's-eye  with  acicular  crystals  of 
actinolite,  and  cat's-eyes  of  good  quality  have  recently  been 
cut  from  it  by  Edwin  Passmore,  of  Hope,  R.  I.,  one  of  them 
nearly  two-thirds  of  an  inch  long,  and  equal  to  many  from 
Hoff,  Bavaria.  Prof.  Frederick  A.  Genth  states  that  quartz 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  2CK 

cat's-eye  has  been  observed  in  several  localities  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. A  hexagonal  crystal  with  the  pyramid  of  greenish 
color,  resulting  from  very  fine  fibers  of  actinolite  dissemi- 
nated through  it,  came  from  York  County,  Pa.  It  is  found 
also  five  miles  east  of  Bethlehem  in  the  allanite  locality, 
but  not  of  gem  quality.  A  curious,  dark-gray  piece  of  quartz, 
obtained  from  the  West  Shore  Railway  tunnel  at  Weehawken, 
N.  J.,  was  filled  with  what  seemed  to  be  byssolite,  but  really 
may  be  an  altered  pectolite ;  it  would  cut  a  cat's-eye  of  fair 
quality.  A  fibrous  black  hornblende  from  near  Chester,  Mass., 
and  a  white,  compact,  fibrous  pyroxene  from  Tyringham,  Mass., 
afforded  imperfect  cat's-eyes.  Some  of  the  labrador  spar, 
when  filled  with  included  minerals  and  impurities,  will  show  the 
cat's-eye  ray ;  this  is  especially  the  case  with  the  mineral  found 
in  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  and  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State. 
Hypersthene,  bronzite,  and  enstatite,  when  fibrous  and  cut 
across  the  fiber,  produce  the  effect,  and  are  sold  abroad  as  cat's- 
eyes  to  a  limited  extent.  Limonite  from  Salisbury,  Conn., 
Richmond,  Mass.,  and  other  American  localities,  can  at  times 
be  cut  into  gems  showing  the  cat's-eye  ray.  Aragonite  and 
gypsum  (satin  spars)  both  give  the  cat's-eye  effect. 

Catlinite  or  "  pipestone "  was  stated  by  Dr.  Charles  T. 
Jackson  to  be  a  variety  of  steatite,  but  it  is  now  regarded  by 
James  D.  Dana  as  a  rock  and  not  a  definite  mineral  species. 
It  is  found  in  large  beds  in  the  upper  Missouri  region,  in 
Pipestone  County,  Minn.,  and  at  several  points  in  Dakota, 
Minnesota,  and  Wisconsin,  notably  at  Flandreau  and  Sioux 
Falls,  Dakota ;  Blue  Earth  River  and  Sac  County,  Iowa;  Pipe 
Stone,  Cottonwood,  Watonwan,  and  Nicollet  Counties,  Minn., 
and  in  Barren  County,  Wis.  In  color  it  ranges  from  a  deep  red 
to  an  ashy  tint.  Reference  is  made  to  pipestone  by  Jacques 
Marquette,  the  Jesuit  missionary,  whose  name  is  linked  with  the 
exploration  of  the  upper  Mississippi.  He  smoked  the  pipe  of 
peace  with  the  Illinois  Indians  as  early  as  1673,  and  gives  the 
following  exact  description  of  that  important  utensil,  the  bowl 
of  which  consisted  of  red  pipestone :  "  It  is  made  of  polished 
red  stone,  like  marble,  so  pierced  that  one  end  serves  to  hold 
the  tobacco,  while  the  other  is  fastened  on  the  stem,  which  is  a 


2O6  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

stick  two  feet  long,  as  thick  as  a  common  cane  and  pierced  in 
the  middle.  It  is  ornamented  with  the  head  and  neck  of  differ- 
ent birds  of  beautiful  plumage  ;  they  also  add  large  feathers  of 
red,  green,  and  other  colors,  with  which  it  is  all  covered."1 
Carver  tells  us  that  near  the  Marble  River  "  is  a  mountain  from 
whence  the  Indians  get  a  sort  of  red  stone,  out  of  which  they 
hew  the  bowls  of  their  pipes,""  and  adds  that  individuals  belong- 
ing even  to  hostile  tribes  met  in  peace  at  the  "  Red  Mountain," 
where  they  obtained  the  stone  for  their  pipes/  Loskiel 4  and 
Dupraty '  both  refer  to  it  in  their  works.  George  Catlin  was 
the  first  white  man  that  the  Indians  permitted  to  visit  the  local- 
ity. He  not  only  described  the  spot  very  fully,  but  also  painted 
a  picture  of  it  in  1836."  He  says:  "  The  place  where  the  In- 
dians get  the  stone  for  their  red  pipes,  the  mineral,  red  steatite, 
a  variety  differing  from  any  other  known  locality,  is  a  wall  of 
solid,  compact  quartz,  gray  and  rose  color,  highly  polished  as  if 
vitrified.  The  wall  is  two  miles  in  length  and  thirty  feet  high, 
with  a  beautiful  cascade  leaping  from  its  top  into  a  basin.  On 
the  prairie,  at  the  base  of  the  wall,  the  pipeclay  (steatite)  is  dug 
up  at  two  and  three  feet  depth.  There  are  seen  five  immense 
granite  boulders,  under  which  there  are  two  squaws,  according 
to  their  tradition,  who  eternally  dwell  there — the  guardian 
spirits  of  the  place — and  must  be  consulted  before  the  pipe- 
stone  can  be  dug  up.  The  position  of  the  pipestone  quarry  is 
in  a  direction  nearly  west  from  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  at  a 
distance  of  300  miles,  on  the  summit  of  the  dividing  ridge  be- 
tween the  Saint  Peter's  and  the  Missouri  Rivers,  being  about 
equidistant  from  either.  This  dividing  ridge  is  denominated  by 
the  French  the '  Coteau  des  Prairies,'  andvthe  pipestone  quarry 
is  situated  near  its  southern  extremity  and  consequently  not 

1  Discovery   and   Exploration   of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  by  J.  G.    Shea  (New  York,   1852), 

P-35- 

5  Travels  through  North  America  (Dublin,  1779),  p.  95. 

3  Cf.  Ancient  Aboriginal  Trade  in  North   America,  by  Charles  Rau.     Report  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution  for  1872,  p.  23  of  reprint. 

4  Missouri   der   Evangelischen   Bruder  unter  den  Indianern   in  Nordamerika  (Barly,   1789), 
p.  106. 

5  Histoire  de  la  Louisiane  (Paris,  1758).  Vol.  I,  p.  326. 

6  Eight  Years  Amongst  the  North  American  Indians  (New  York,  1841),  plate  No.  270,  Vol. 
2,  p.  164.     See  also  Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  for  1885,  part  2,  p.  240. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  2OJ 

exactly  on  its  highest  elevation,  as  its  general  course  is  north 
and  south  and  its  southern  extremity  terminates  in  a  gradual 
slope.  Our  approach  to  it  was  from  the  east,  and  the  ascent, 
for  the  distance  of  fifty  miles,  over  a  continued  succession  of 
slopes  and  terraces,  almost  imperceptibly  rising  one  above  the 
other  that  seemed  to  lift  us  to  a  great  height.  The  singular 
character  of  this  majestic  mound  continues  on  the  west  side  in 
its  descent  towards  the  Missouri.  There  is  not  a  tree  or  bush 
to  be  seen  from  the  highest  summit  of  the  ridge,  though  the  eye 
may  range  east  and  west  almost  to  a  boundless  extent,  over  a 
surface  covered  with  a  short  grass  that  is  green  at  one's  feet 
and  about  him,  but  changing  to  blue  in  distance,  like  nothing 
but  the  blue  and  vastness  of  the  ocean."  Of  his  struggles  with 
Indians  to  visit  the  place,  he  relates:  "We  were  persisting  in 
the  most  peremptory  terms  in  the  determination  to  visit  their 
great  medicine  (mystery)  place,  where,  it  seems,  they  had  often 
resolved  no  white  man  should  ever  be  allowed  to  go.  They 
took  us  to  be  '  officers  sent  by  Government  to  see  what  this 
place  was  worth.'  As  'this  red  stone  was  a  part  of  their  flesh/ 
it  would  be  sacrilegious  for  white  men  to  touch  or  take  it 
away — '  a  hole  would  be  made  in  their  flesh  and  the  blood 
could  never  be  made  to  stop  running.'  My  companion,  Robert 
S.  Wood,  and  myself  were  in  a  fix,  one  that  demanded  the  use 
of  every  energy  we  had  about  us.  Astounded  at  so  unexpected 
a  rebuff,  and  more  than  ever  excited  to  go  ahead  and  see  what 
was  to  be  seen  at  this  strange  place,  in  this  emergency  we  mu- 
tually agreed  to  go  forward,  even  if  it  should  be  at  the  hazard 
of  our  lives."  He  says,  concerning  the  quarry  itself:  "  The 
thousands  of  inscriptions  and  paintings  on  the  rocks  at  this 
place,  as  well  as  the  ancient  diggings  for  the  pipestone,  will  af- 
ford amusement  for  the  world  who  will  visit  it,  without  furnish- 
ing the  least  data,  I  should  think,  of  the  time  at  which  these 
excavations  commenced,  or  of  the  period  at  which  the  Sioux 
assumed  the  exclusive  right  to  it."  Mr.  Catlin  tells  of  the  many 
superstitions  about  smoking  among  the  Indians,  and  says: 
"  The  red  stone  of  which  these  pipebowls  are  made  is,  in  my 
estimation,  a  great  curiosity,  inasmuch  as  I  am  sure  it  is  a  vari- 
ety of  steatite  (if  it  be  steatite)  differing  from  that  of  any 


208  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

known  European  locality,  and  also  from  any  place  known  in 
America  other  than  the  one  from  which  all  these  pipes  come, 
and  which  are  all  traceable,  I  have  found,  to  one  source,  and 
that  source  as  yet  unvisited,  except  by  the  red  man,  who  de- 
scribed it  everywhere  as  a  place  of  vast  importance  to  the  In- 
dians, as  given  to  them  by  the  Great  Spirit  for  their  pipes  and 
strictly  forbidden  to  be  used  for  anything  else."  Specimens  of 
the  mineral  were  sent  to  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson,  of  Boston, 
who  was  then  "one  of  our  best  mineralogists  and  chemists." 
He  gave  it  the  name  "  catlinite,"  and  pronounced  it  a  new  mineral 
compound,  not  steatite,  harder  than  gypsum  and  softer  than 
carbonate  of  lime. 

This  locality  was  visited  and  referred  to  by  Dr.  Charles  A. 
White1  and  subsequently  described  by  Dr.  Ferdinand  V.  Hayden. 
He  says  :  "On  reaching  the  source  of  the  Pipestone  Creek,  in 
the  valley  of  which  the  pipestone  bed  is  located,  I  was  surprised 
to  see  how  inconspicuous  a  place  it  is.  Indeed,  had  I  not  known 
of  the  existence  of  a  rock  in  this  locality  so  celebrated  in  this 
region,  I  should  have  passed  it  by  almost  unnoticed.  The  pipe- 
stone  layer,  as  seen  at  this  point,  is  about  1 1  inches  in  thickness, 
only  about  2\  inches  of  which  are  used  for  manufacturing  pipes 
and  other  ornaments.  The  remainder  is  too  impure,  slaty, 
fragile,  etc.  A  ditch  from  4  to  6  feet  wide  and  about  400  yards 
in  length,  extending  partly  across  the  valley  of  the  Pipestone 
Creek,  reveals  what  has  thus  far  been  done  in  excavating  the 
rock."2 

Longfellow's  lines  commemorate  the  Indian  legend  : 

"  From  the  redstone  of  the  quarry 
With  his  hands  he  broke  a  fragment, 
Moulded  it  into  a  pipe-head, 
Shaped  and  fashioned  it  with  figures ; 
From  the  margin  of  the  river 
Took  a  long  reed  for  a  pipestem, 
With  its  dark-green  leaves  upon  it." 

Whether  catlinite  has  been  used  to  make  pipes  for  any 
very  great  length  of  time  is  difficult  to  decide.  According 
to  Dr.  Hayden,  "the  quarry  belongs  to  a  comparatively  recent 

1  American  Naturalist,  Vol.  2,  p.  644,.  Feb.,  1869. 
•  Am.  J.  Sci.  II.,  Vol.  43,  p.  19,  Jan.,  1867. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


2O9 


period."1  On  the  other  hand,  Edwin  A.  Barber,  who  has  re- 
viewed the  subject  very  thoroughly,  believes  that  the  stone  of 
Coteau  des  Prairies  and  the  adjacent  territory  must  have  been 
employed  by  native  sculptors  for  several  centuries  at  least,  and 
in  all  probability  for  a  much  longer  period.2  Catlin,  who 
studied  the  subject  with  much  care,  has  published  numerous 
drawings  of  the  red  pipes.  These  are  shown  in  Thomas  Don- 
aldson's very  elaborate  memoir,3  and  bear  testimony  to  the 
skill  and  patience  of  their  makers,  who  in  most  cases  possessed 
no  other  implements  than  the  knives  and  files  obtained  from 
the  traders.  The  cylindrical  or  conical  cavities  in  the  bowl  and 

CATLINITE 


CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

AND 

PROPERTIES. 

LOCALITY, 
Palisades, 
Minnehaha  Co., 
Dak. 
Analyst, 
Dodge.  1 

LOCALITY. 
Columbia  River, 
Oregon. 
Analyst, 
Thomson.2 

LOCALITY, 
Columbia  River, 
Oregon. 
Analyst, 
Thomson.3 

LOCALITY, 
Coteau  du  Prairie, 
Upper  Missouri 
Region. 
Analyst, 
Jackson.4 

Color  

White  to  Yellowish. 

Gray  Blue. 

Gray  Blue. 

Silica  

W4.O 

CC'62 

t;t;'6o 

48*20 

Alumina  

•l  7-  -JO 

I7'2I 

17  '4.2 

28*20 

Ferric  Oxide  

2'80 

7-61 

6'3I 

"TOO 

Manganous  Oxide  

0*60 

Carbonate  of  Lime  

2'6o 

Lime  

o'6o 

2'26 

2-08 

Magnesia  

O'I7 

O'l  I 

O'2O 

6'OO 

Potassa  

0*60 

Soda  

v>o 

I2'l6 

12-80 

Water  

0/60 

A.'  60 

4.'  57 

8*4.0 

Hardness  

I*  CO 

1*51 

Specific  Gravity  

2-61 

2'6l 



Geology  and  Natural  History  of  Minnesota,  1881,  p.  203. 


neck  of  these  pipes  are  drilled  with  a  hard  stick  and  sharp  sand 
and  water.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  manufacture  of  stone 
pipes,  necessarily  a  painful  and  tedious  labor,  may  have  formed 
a  branch  of  aboriginal  industry,  and  that  in  ancient  times  the 
skilful  pipe-carver  may  have  occupied  among  the  Indians  a 
rank  equal  to  that  of  the  experienced  sculptor  in  our  days. 
Even  among  modern  Indians,  pipemakers  have  sometimes  been 
met  with.  Thus  Dr.  Kohl  speaks  of  *an  Ojibway  pipemaker 
whom  he  met  near  Lake  Superior.  "  There  are  persons  among 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  II.,  Vol.  43,  p.  19,  Jan.,  1867. 

2  Catlinite,  Its  Antiquity  as   a  Material  for  Tobacco  Pipes.     Am.  Nat.,  Vol.   17,  p.  745,  July, 
1883. 

3  Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  for  1885,  part  2. 


2IO  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES 

them,"  he  says,  "who  possess  particular  skill  in  the  carving  of 
pipes,  and  make  it  their  profession,  or  at  least  the  means  of 
gaining  part  of  their  livelihood.  He  inlaid  his  pipes  very  taste- 
fully with  figures  of  stars  and  flowers  of  black  and  white  stones. 
His  work  proceeded  very  slowly,  and  he  sold  his  pipes  at  from 
$3  to  $5  each.  The  Indians  sometimes  pay  much  higher 
prices."1  Dr.  Daniel  Wilson  mentions'  an  old  Ojibway  Indian, 
"whose  name  is  Pababmesad,  or  the  Flier,  but  who,  from  his 
skill  in  pipemaking,  is  more  commonly  known  as  Pwahguneka 
— 'he  makes  pipes."  The  stone  is  still  worked  into  a  large 
variety  of  ornamental  pipes,  that  are  sold  at  prices  ranging  from 
$i  to  $10  each,  and  at  times  as  high  even  as  $20  for  very  large 
pieces  of  carving.  Catlinite  is  also  worked  into  a  number  of 
ornaments  and  into  small  charms  of  different  kinds,  which  are 
offered  to  visitors  at  Minnehaha  Falls,  Lake  Minnetonka,  vari- 
ous hotels  in  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis,  and  in  Dakota  as  far 
west  as  Fort  Sully,  and  find  a  ready  sale.  The  amount  sold  an- 
nually is  perhaps  $10,000  worth.  This  stone,  on  account  of  its 
compactness,  easy  working,  and  the  fine  polish  that  it  admits  of, 
should  find  a  more  extended  use.  One  curious  spotted  variety, 
red  with  white  and  gray  spots,  is  very  beautiful,  and  would 
make  a  good  contrast  with  the  common  red  pipestone  in  decora- 
tive work. 

1  Kitschi-Gami  Oder  Erzahlung  Von  Obern  See  (Bremen,  1856),  Vol.  2,  p.  82. 
*  Prehistoric  Man  (London,  1862),  Vol.  2,  p.  15. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Pearls. 


PEARLS  are  lustrous  concretions,  consisting  essen- 
tially of  carbonate  of  lime  interstratified  with  animal 
membrane,  found  in  the  shells  of  certain  mollusks. 
They  are  believed  to  be  the  result  of  an  abnormal  secre- 
tory process  caused  by  an  irritation  of  the  mantle  of  the  mol- 
lusk  consequent  on  the  intrusion  into  the  shell  of  some  foreign 
body,  as  a  grain  of  sand,  an  egg  of  the  mollusk  itself,  or  per- 
haps some  cercarian  parasite.  It  has  also  been  suggested  that 
an  excess  of  carbonate  of  lime  in  the  water  may  cause  the 
development  of  the  pearl.  Accepting  the  former  theory  as  the 
more  probable  one,  it  is  easy  to  understand  how  this  foreign 
body,  which  the  mollusk  is  unable  to  expel,  becomes  encysted 
or  covered  as  by  a  capsule,  and  gradually  thickens,  assuming 
various  forms — round,  elongated,  mallet-shaped — and  is  some- 
times as  regular  as  though  it  had  been  turned  in  a  lathe. 
Charles  L.  Tiffany,  who  has  given  considerable  attention  to 
this  subject,  suggests  that  the  mollusk  continually  revolves  the 
enclosed  particle  in  its  efforts  to  rid  itself  of  the  irritation,  or 
possibly  that  its  formation  is  due  to  a  natural  motion  which  is 
accelerated  by  the  intruding  body. 

In  regard  to  the  formation  of  pearls,  the  following  general 
statements  may  be  made  :     Whatever  may  be  the  cause  or  the 


212  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

process  of  their  production,  these  interior  concretions  may  occur 
in  almost  any  molluscan  shells,  though  they  are  confined  to  cer- 
tain groups,  and  their  color  and  lustre  depend  upon  those  of  the 
shell  interior,  adjacent  to  which  they  are  formed.  Thus  the 
pink  conch  of  the  West  Indies  yields  the  beautiful  rose-colored 
pearls,  while  those  of  the  common  oyster  and  clam  are  dead 
white  or  dark  purple,  according  to  their  proximity  to  the  part  of 
the  mantle  which  secretes  the  white  or  the  dark  material  of  the 
shell.  The  true  pearly  or  nacreous  iridescent  interior  belongs 
to  only  a  few  families  of  the  mollusks,  and  in  these  alone  can 
pearls  proper  be  formed  at  all,  while  in  point  of  fact  they  are 
actually  obtained  only  from  a  very  few  genera. 

According  to  William  H.  Dall,1  none  of  the  air-breathing 
mollusks  (the  land  snails)  produce  a  nacreous  shell ;  and  among 
fresh-water  mollusks,  none  are  pearl-bearers  except  certain  of 
the  bivalves,  notably  those  belonging  to  the  groups  appropri- 
ately called  the  Naiades,  of  which  the  common  river-mussel 
(Unio)  is  a  typical  example.  The  soft  internal  parts  of  these 
mollusks  are  covered  by  a  thin,  delicate  membrane  called  the 
mantle,  from  the  surface,  and  particularly  from  the  outer  edges 
of  which,  material  is  excreted  to  form  the  inner  layers  of  the 
shell.  The  shell  consists  of  two  parts,  the  epidermis  and  the 
shell  proper,  the  latter  composed  of  numerous  layers.  The 
epidermis,  which  resembles  horn,  is  chiefly  composed  of  a  sub- 
stance called  "conchioline"  and  is  soluble  in  caustic  alkalies. 

The  families  with  iridescent  interior  layers  are  the  follow- 
ing :  Among  cephalopods,  the  Nautilus  and  Ammonites,  the 
latter  wholly  fossil.  In  both  these  groups  the  removal  of  the 
outer  layers  of  the  shell  reveals  the  splendid  pearly  surface 
beneath.  Modern  nautilus  shells  are  often  "cleaned"  with 
dilute  acid  to  fit  them  for  use  as  ornaments,  and  frequently  this 
is  done  partially,  elaborate  patterns  being  formed  by  leaving 
parts  of  the  white  middle  layers  to  contrast  with  the  pearly 
ground.  Among  the  fossil  Ammonites,  the  same  effect  is  pro- 
duced, very  often  naturally  by  decay  of  the  outer  layers ;  and 
no  artificial  pearl-work  can  compare  with  the  richness  of  color— 

1  Pearls  and  Pearl  Fisheries,  American  Naturalist,  p.  17,  pp.  579  and  731,  June  and  July, 
1883. 


PLATE  No.  8 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  213 

literally  "  rainbow-hued " — that-  is  presented  by  many  of  these 
fossils  from  Jurassic  and  cretaceous  deposits.  Among  the 
gasteropods,  the  pearly  groups  are  the  Turbos  and  Haliotes, 
in  both  of  which,  but  especially  in  the  latter,  there  is  a  frequent 
occurrence  of  green  iridescence.  Shells  of  both  these  families 
are  "  cleaned"  with  acid  for  use  as  ornaments,  and  the  exquisite 
green  Haliotis  material  is  extensively  used  in  the  arts,  as  de- 
scribed further  on. 

The  pearls  of  commerce,  however,  are  almost  wholly  ob- 
tained from  bivalve  (lamellibranch)  shells,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing families  have  a  nacreous  lining :  Aviculidae,  Mytilidse,  and 
Unionidae,  the  latter  being  wholly  fresh-water  shells,  also 
known  as  the  Naiadae.  A  few  genera  of  other  families  are  also 
brilliantly  pearly,  but  need  not  be  discussed.  The  true  pearl- 
oyster  (Meleagrina)  of  the  Pacific  and  Indian  Oceans  belongs 
to  the  first  of  these  groups,  and  has  from  time  immemorial 
yielded  the  bulk  of  commercial  pearls,  while  its  large  and  thick 
shell  furnishes  the  mother-of-pearl  for  countless  ornamental  pur- 
poses. (The  Naiades  are  of  particular  interest  in  this  country, 
as  it  is  in  North  America  that  this  group  is  most  abundant.) 
Several  hundred  species  of  Unio,  Anodon,  etc.,  have  been  found 
in  our  great  rivers  and  lakes,  and  the  Mississippi  basin  teems 
with  them ;  and  for  the  most  part  the  forms  are  quite  distinct 
from  those  of  the  Atlantic  watershed  and  of  the  Old  World. 
The  Unios,  while  all  iridescent,  vary  greatly  in  tint,  exhibiting 
all  the  delicate  shades  of  pink,  brown,  purple,  etc.,  as  well  as 
white.  The  rivers  of  Europe,  of  Mesopotamia,  and  of  China  also 
yield  large  numbers  of  Unios. 

The  peculiar  artificial  devices  for  pearl  production  employed 
by  the  Chinese  with  Dipsas  plicatus  are  described  hereafter  in 
this  chapter,  as  well  as  similar  experiments  upon  Unios  in  Ger- 
many. Other  genera  (Hyria  and  Castalia)  represent  the  family 
in  the  Amazon  basin  of  South  America. 

The  same  causes  and  operations  that  result  in  the  produc- 
tion of  pearls  or  free  nacreous  concretions  in  the  soft  animal 
substance  of  the  pearl  oysters  or  mother-of-pearl  shells  also 
produce  in  a  modified  way  the  tuberculose  or  knoblike  protuber- 
ances and  irregularities  of  surface  that  are  frequently  seen  on 


214  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

the  pearly  inner  surface  of  the  valves  and  projecting  therefrom. 
The  flatter  or  less  pronounced  form  of  these  nacreous  excres- 
cences are  often  called  "blister  pearls,"  because  of  their  resem- 
blance to  vesicular  eruptions,  or  water-blisters  caused  by  burns. 
These  protuberant  or  vesicular  excrescences,  as  the  case  may 
be,  are  induced  in  two  ways.  First,  and  perhaps  more  commonly, 
by  the  perforation  of  the  shell,  from  outside  to' inside,  by  some 
species  of  boring  parasite,  pholads  and  lithophagi  among 
the  bivalve  mollusks  (Acephala),  also  by  certain  sponges 
(Clione)  and  boring  worms.  For  the  most  part,  these  are  not 
really  parasites,  as  they  do  not  derive  their  nutriment  from  the 
substance  of  the  pearl  oyster,  as  leeches  and  ticks  do  from  the 
blood  of  their  victims;  the  term  "domiciliaire"1  gives  a  clearer 
idea  of  the  relation  of  these  forms  to  that  upon  which  they 
fasten  or  to  which  they  attach  themselves.  These  mollusks, 
sponges,  and  worms  simply  make  their  residence  or  domicile, 
according  to  their  habit,  upon  or  in  the  shell  of  the  pearl 
oysters.3  The  boring  species  are  quite  small  during  the  early 
adolescent  stage  when  they  first  attach  themselves,  but  with 
increasing  growth  they  have  necessarily  to  increase  the  size  of 
their  burrows,  until  at  last,  to  the  great  inconvenience  and 
annoyance  of  the  pearl  oyster,  the  tunnelers  have  pierced 
through  its  shell,  and  the  oyster,  in  order  to  maintain  the 
privacy  of  its  own  domicile,  is  forced,  as  it  were,  to  plaster  over 
the  holes  with  a  coating  of  nacre.  This  process  is  repeated 
and  continued  as  long  as  the  tunneling  goes  on,  until  finally  a 

1  Name  given  by  Robert  E.  C.  Stearns  in  paper  cited. 

2  In  addition  to  the  particular  species  of  fish,  Fierasfer  dubius,  figured  in  the  plate,  the  occur- 
rence of  which  had  previously  been  made  known,  Dr.  Stearns  has  detected  another,  apparently 
belonging  to  the  Oligocottus,  a  form  quite  different  from  Fierasfer.     The  latter  is  a  long,  slender, 
eel-like  form,  while  the  other  is  a  shorter,  chunky  fish,  with  a  squarish  head  and  rather  prominent 
though  stumpy  spines.     The  Oligocottae  are  small,  bull-headed  fishes  that  "  usually  inhabit  rock 
pools  between  tide-marks,"  and  are  peculiar  to  the  North  Pacific  waters.    The  Fierasfers  inhabit 
tropical  or  semi-tropical  regions,  and  have  been  reported  from  Florida  Keys  to  Cuba  and  Panama. 
The  specimen  illustrated  was  probably  from  the  Gulf  of  California,  as  well  as  the  Oligocottus,  the 
occurrence  of  which  as  a  parasite  or  domiciliaire  had  not  before  been  made  known.     (See  Colored 
Plate  No.  8.)     It  is  highly  probable  that  still  other  species  of  the  ichthyological  section  of  the 
animal  kingdom  may  yet  be  discovered  occurring  under  similar  conditions,  for  it  would  seem  that 
small  fishes  of  many  species  might  occasionally  be  chased  into  the  gaping  valves  of  the  oysters  when 
pursued  by  some  predaceous  member  of  the  finny  tribe.     The  Fierasfers,  however,  exhibit  the 
parasitic  habit,  as  has  been  pretty  well  ascertained,  not  only  through  its  occurrence  in  the  pearl 
oysters,  as  before  shown,  but  also  through  similar  relations  to  the  Echinoderms. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  215 

nacreous  knob  or  lump  of  pearl,  of  greater  or  less  size,  results 
from  this  defensive  and  protective  action  on  the  part  of  the 
oyster.  This  walling  out  of  intruders  can  hardly  be  regarded  as 
an  indication  of  instinct  or  intelligence  in  the  oyster,  analogous 
to  the  repairing  of  a  damaged  web  by  a  spider  or  the  retunnel- 
ing  of  a  filled-in  gallery  by  ants  :  it  is  a  pathological  rather 
than  an  intelligent  action,  induced  by  irritation  at  the  point  of 
intrusion.  Secondly,  knobs,  protuberances,  and  blister  pearls 
are  the  result,  indirectly,  of  some  intrusive  particle,  or,  it  may 
be,  of  an  organism  which  has  in  some  way  worked  in  between 
the  delicate  tissues  of  the  mantle  or  sac,  or  some  part  thereof, 
and  the  interior  surface  of  the  shell.  This,  as  may  be  easily 
conceived,  produces  an  irritation,  as  a  rough  particle  of  dust  on 
the  surface  of  the  human  eye,  and  induces  a  secretion  followed  by 
a  flow  and  deposit  of  nacreous  lymph  at  the  point  irritated,  and 
the  cause  of  the  irritation,  whether  an  organic  form  or  an  inor- 
ganic particle,  is  coated  with  nacre,  and  plastered  down  to  or 
upon  the  inner  surface  of  the  shell.  It  is  rarely  the  case — but 
such  instances  have  been  known — that  a  small  fish,  having  en- 
tered the  shell  when  the  valves  were  partially  open,  and  having 
worked  its  way  between  the  mantle  and  the  smooth  surface  of 
the  shell  up  to  the  region  where  the  adductor  muscles  are 
attached  (the  muscles  by  which  the  valves  are  opened  and 
closed),  has  here  had  a  stop  put  to  further  explorations  into 
the  anatomy  of  the  oyster,  the  latter  not  only  clothing  the 
unfortunate  intruder  in  a  pearly  shroud,  but  also  burying  him 
in  a  nacreous  tomb. 

The  disturbance  of  the  muscular  economy  of  the  oyster  at 
the  point  named,  it  may  be  assumed,  would  induce  immediate 
and  extreme  protective  activity  in  the  nacreous  deposition. 

The  report  of  the  United  States  National  Museum  for  1886, 
page  339,  contains  a  paper  by  Robert  E.  C.  Stearns,  "  On 
Certain  Parasites,  Commensals,  and  Domiciliares  in  the  Pearl- 
oysters,  Meleagrinse,"  and  the  colored  plate  (No.  8)  (from  a 
painting '  made  for  that  paper)  which  illustrates  this  chapter,  as 
well  as  the  notes  and  comments  herein  embodied,  have  kindly 
been  placed  at  the  author's  disposal  by  Dr.  Stearns. 

1  Department  of  Mollusca,  United  States  National  Museum,  No.  73,934- 


2l6  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

A  hundred  pearls  have  been  found  in  a  single  shell ;  but 
as  a  rule  these  have  little  or  no  value.  Very  curious  nacreous 
groups  made  of  many  small  pieces  are  at  times  found  attached  to 
the  hinge,  but  these  are  generally  without  sufficient  lustre  to  be 
of  value,  and  are  rarely  collected.  These  groups  are  caused  by 
the  conglomeration  of  many  small  ones  cemented  by  a  deposit 
of  nacre,  and  are  often  half  an  inch  across.  The  white  and 
the  pink  pearls  are  exceedingly  beautiful,  and  the  finest,  owing 
to  their  delicate  sheen  or  layers,  are  at  times  more  lustrous  than 
even  the  best  oriental  pearls.  This  lustre  is  increased  by  their 
greater  transparency,  and  a  really  fine  white,  pink,  yellow,  or 
iridescent  pearl  is  often  found  quite  translucent.  In  color,  the 
Unio  pearls  present  an  extended  series  of  shades  from  dead 
opaque  white,  having  but  little  value,  through  various  tints  of 
pink,  yellow,  and  salmon,  passing  through  a  more  decided  form 
of  these  colors,  or  a  faint  purple,  into  a  bright  red,  so  closely 
resembling  a  drop  of  molten  copper  as  almost  to  deceive  the 
eye.  Some  are  very  light  green  and  brown,  others  rose  color, 
and  still  others  are  pale  steel-blue  or  russet  and  purplish  brown. 
In  addition  to  their  color  and  lustre,  they  are  beautifully  iri- 
descent. They  are  found  in  many  odd  and  remarkable  shapes. 
(See  Illustration.)  Elongated  fish  forms  found  near  the  hinge 
of  the  shell,  and  called  hinge  baroque  pearls,  are  abundant. 
Others,  with  but  a  slight  addition  of  gold  and  enamel,  seem  to 
represent  human  and  animal  heads,  bat  and  bird  wings,  and 
similar  objects.  Mallet-shaped  pearls  are  found  with  fine  color 
and  lustre  at  each  end,  though  generally  with  opaque  sides ;  also 
grouped  or  bunched  masses  of  the  pearly  nacre,  made  up  of 
from  one  to  over  one  hundred  distinct  pearls  in  fanciful  shapes, 
are  of  occasional  occurrence.  Feather-like  forms  with  curiously 
raised  points,  and  an  odd,  rounded  varfety  with  raised,  pitted 
markings,  are  quite  abundant.  A  pearl  was  mounted  in  this 
country  that  strikingly  resembled  the  bust  of  Michael  Angelo, 
and  a  number  of  unique  designs  have  been  made  of  baroques, 
similar  to  those  mounted  by  Dinglinger  and  exhibited  in  the 
Green  Vaults  at  Dresden.  Although  the  pearls  used  here 
have  not  been  as  large  as  those  shown  in  Dresden,  greater 
taste  has  been  employed  in  mounting  them.  The  variety  of  the 


SPECIMENS   OF   FRESH    WATER   PEARLS 

NATURAL   SIZE 


PEARL  WITH  CLAY  CENTER 


TJFIVBRSIT7 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  2I/ 

forms  being  so  great,  an  artist  has  a  wide  field  for  imagination. 
The  pearls,,  however,  have  but  slight  value  unless  they  are 
beautiful  and  lustrous. 

Frequently  pearls  have  an  opaque  appearance  and  seem  to 
be  worthless,  but  on  the  removal  of  their  outer  layer  are  found 
to  be  clear  and  iridescent.  This  outer  layer  may  be  removed 
by  dipping  them  in  a  weak  solution  of  acid,  which  dissolves 
the  opaque  coating,  or  it  may  be  peeled  with  a  knife,  although 
sometimes  the  pearl  is  not  of  the  same  material  throughout,  and 
cannot  be  restored.  The  story  is  told  of  a  New  York  lady 
who  purchased  a  button-shaped  Unio  pearl  that  had  a 
black,  diseased  appearance  on  one  side.  It  was  so  set  that  the 
imperfection  was  all  below  the  mounting.  When  applauding 
at  the  opera  one  evening,  the  pearl  was  broken,  and  on  exami- 
nation it  was  found  to  consist  of  a  very  thin  nacreous  layer, 
inside  of  which  was  nothing  but  a  hard,  white,  greasy  clay.  (See 
Illustration.)  Whatever  be  the  method  of  their  formation,  it 
would  seem  that  pearls  can  be  formed  only  at  the  expense  of 
the  shell,  for  every  substance  necessary  to  their  growth  is  drawn 
from  sources  which  normally  secrete  the  shell.  Hence  the 
presence  of  the  pearl  can  usually  be  detected  on  the  outside  of 
the  shell.  Normal  appearing  shells  rarely  contain  pearls,  while 
on  the  other  hand  those  that  are  deformed  often  contain  pearls 
of  great  beauty.  There  are  three  indications  on  which  pearl- 
fishers  rely  for  detecting  from  the  outward  aspect  of  the  shell 
the  presence  of  pearls.  These  are,  first,  the  thread,  that  is,  the 
recess  or  elevation  extending  from  the  vertex  to  the  edge ; 
second,  the  kidney-shape  of  the  shell,  that  is,  an  indentation  on 
the  ventral  side  ;  and  third,  the  contortion  of  both  shells  toward 
the  middle  plane  of  the  animal. 

Much  interesting  information  concerning  the  structure  and 
quality  of  the  shells  of  fresh-water  pearl-bearing  mussels  was  ob- 
tained at  the  International  Exhibition  held  at  Berlin  in  1880. 
The  shells  were  found  to  consist  of  three  strata:  first, the  outer 
yellow  or  brown  conchioline  (cuticula  or  epidermis) ;  second, 
the  prism  stratum,  consisting  of  layers  formed  of  minute  prisms 
arranged  vertically  to  the  layers  and  the  shell  surface  ;  and 
third,  the  interior  nacre  layer,  composed  of  finely  folded  leaves 


FIG.  8.      SECTION    OF 


SHOWING   STRUC- 


2l8  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

parallel  to  the  shell  surface.  The  last  two  strata  consist  chief- 
ly of  carbonate  of  lime.  These  formations  were  illustrated 
by  transverse  cuttings  and  microscopic  sections. 
(See  Fig.  8.)  When  a  wound  had  been  received 
by  the  animal  in  any  soft  part,  the  tissues  became 
moistened  with  a  lime-like  material  and  especially 
with  the  nacre-substance.  This  often  happens  in 
the  muscles  which  serve  to  close  the  shell,  and  the 
irregular  concretions  thus  formed  are  called  "sand 
pearls."  When  the  growth  of  the  pearl  is  abnor- 
mally strong,  the  pressure  which  it  exerts  on  the 
outer  wall  of  this  tissue-pocket  becomes  so  power- 
ful that  the  pocket  is  absorbed  on  the  side  toward 
PPEAARRL  ^  shell,  bringing  the  hard  pearl  directly  against 
it  jt  ^^  becomes  impossible  for  the  pearl  to 
grow  any  more  at  the  point  of  contact,  for  there  is  no  tissue  to 
secrete  the  lime  substance;  but  it  grows  on  the  rest  of  the  sur- 
face, and  the  thickening  layers,  as  they  are  formed,  pass  directly 
into  the  nacre  layers  on  the  inside  of  the  shell,  and  thicken  the 
shell  itself.  Through  these  over-layers,  the  pearl  is  connected 
with  the  shell  as  though  by  different  layers  of  covering  cloths. 
At  first  it  clings  to  the  shell  at  one  point  only,  afterward  enlarg- 
ing the  area  of  its  adhesion.  In  this  manner  twin  or  united 
pearls  are  formed. 

The  most  important  marine  pearl-fishery  on  the  American 
continent  is  that  of  Lower  California,  the  central  point  being  at 
La  Paz.  Here  the  true  pearl  oysters,  Meleagrina  or  Margarito- 
phora,  are  found,  on  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Califor- 
nia, from  Cape  St.  Lucas  to  the  mouth  of  the  Colorado  River, 
taking  in  about  1,500  miles  of  coast,  including  the  gulf  islands. 
They  are  also  found  from  La  Barra  de  Ocoz,  which  is  the  boun- 
dary line  between  the  republics  of  Guatemala  and  Mexico,  to 
Mazatlan,  a  distance  of  2,000  miles,  making  for  the  pearl  fisher- 
ies a  total  extent  of  3,500  miles. 

These  fisheries  have  recently  been  confirmed  to  the  Pearl 
Shell  Company  of  San  Francisco,  by  special  franchise  from 
the  Mexican  Government.  The  beds  were  first  discovered 
some  three  centuries  ago  by  Hernando  Cortez  when  he  crossed 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  2 19 

to  the  Pacific  and  discovered  Lower  California,  and  the  name 
of  California,  derived  from  "calidus,"  hot,  and  "fornius,"  a 
hearth,  it  is  believed,  is  due  to  this  journey,  having  been  given 
by  Cortez,  who  found  the  heat  intense  when  he  first  touched 
California  soil.  He  took  possession  of  the  fisheries,  and  sent 
a  number  of  fine  pearls  to  the  Queen  of  Spain,  subsequently 
requiring  all  fishers  to  send  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  one-tenth  of 
all  they  found,  and  one-tenth  to  the  King  of  Spain.  After  some 
intermittent  work,  the  fisheries,  about  150  years  ago,  were  again 
worked,  with  system  and  with  great  success,  by  one  Juan  Ossio, 
who  took  from  them  yearly  from  300  to  500  pounds  of  pearls, 
actually  packing  them  on  mules  and  selling  them  by  the  bushel. 
The  shells  were  all  brought  up  by  head  divers,  and  pearls 
were  taken  from  them  so  plentifully  that  they  became  of  compar- 
atively small  value.  This  heavy  drain  had  the  effect  of  rapidly 
diminishing  the  supply,  and  it  is  only  of  late  years  that  fishing 
has  again  been  carried  on  systematically.  At  present 
numerous  beds  are  known  and  worked,  at  Loreto,  off  Point 
Lorenzo,  the  Island  of  Cerrabro,  the  harbors  of  Picheluigo, 
La  Paz,  and  in  fact  the  whole  west  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia from  La  Paz  to  above  the  island  of  Loreto,  and  in  the 
east  the  island  of  Tiburon,  and  the  land  above  and  below  that 
island.  All  these  places  have  been  famous  for  their  pearls. 

A  late  authority  writes  that  the  beds  of  the  pearl  oyster  are 
found  on  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  from  Cape  San  Lucas  to  the 
twenty-eighth  degree  north  latitude,  including  the  northern  is- 
lands. The  shells  are  also  found  on  the  southern  coast  at  points 
which  are  known,  but  further  exploitation  has  been  abandoned 
on  account  of  the  lack  of  harbors  for  the  protection  of  vessels 
used  in  these  fisheries.  The  pearl  oysters  seem  to  prefer  well- 
sheltered  bays  or  harbors  where  fresh  water  empties,  and  in 
such  localities  the  finest  pearls  have  been  found. 

According  to  the  report  of  an  expert  who  visited  the  dis- 
trict in  1860,  the  season  lasts  from  June  to  December,  and  the 
time  for  diving  is  three  hours  a  day,  one  hour  and  a  half  before 
low  water  and  one  hour  and  a  half  after.  On  an  average,  one 
day  in  every  week  is  a  fast-day,  on  which,  as  well  as  on  Sundays, 
no  work  is  done.  A  good  day's  work  for  one  diver  is  to  procure 


22O  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

ten  dozen  oysters,  though  some  of  the  best  men  frequently  get 
as  many  as  fifteen  dozen.  Of  course  a  great  deal  depends  upon 
the  locality.  The  shells  average  about  7,000  to  the  ton,  and 
calculating  the  season  at  150  days,  each  man  procuring  15,000 
oysters,  the  total  of  shells  procured  by  450  men  is  about  2,000 
tons.  Formerly,  on  the  independent  system,  the  divers  gener- 
ally preferred  to  sell  the  oysters  unopened  for  about  twice  the 
price  that  they  would  receive  for  the.  shells  only,  the  price  of 
shells  averaging  $4.50  a  thousand.  They  went  out  in  canoes, 
three,  four,  and  sometimes  five  or  six  to  each  canoe,  but  seldom 
in  greater  number  than  four. 

The  rise  and  fall  of  the  tides  is  about  twenty  feet.  The 
currents  run  very  swiftly  among  the  islands  except  just  before 
and  just  after  low  water,  and  just  before  and  just  after  high 
water  ;  but  before  and  after  high  tide  the  water  is  too  deep  for 
divers,  except  in  the  shallowest  places,  which,  of  course,  are 
generally  exhausted,  as  they  are  always  accessible.  The  divers 
claim  that  they  can  easily  reach  a  depth  of  twelve  fathoms  when 
not  hindered  by  the  currents,  and  can  remain  there  from  a 
minute  to  a  minute  and  a  half.  On  reaching  the  place  where 
they  intend  to  dive,  the  canoe  is  allowed  to  float,  or  is  paddled 
slowly  by  one  of  the  men,  while  the  others,  with  their  heads  close 
to  the  water,  are  watching  the  bottom.  Notwithstanding  that 
the  bottom  is  more  or  less  rocky,  they  can  distinguish  an  oyster 
at  a  depth  of  fifty  feet.  When  one  is  observed,  the  diver 
goes  down,  and  if  there  are  several  in  the  place  (it  is  said  that 
there  are  always  two)  he  brings  up  all  he  can  secure  during  the 
minute  or  two  he  is  down.  If  a  spot  is  found  where  the  oysters 
are  abundant,  a  basket  is  sunk  by  means  of  stones,  having  a  rope 
attached,  and  the  diver  can  sometimes  fill  it  in  a  few  minutes, 
coming  up  occasionally  to  take  breath.  Those  in  the  canoe 
take  turns  in  diving,  in  paddling,  and  in  resting,  so  that  of  the 
three  or  four  in  a  canoe,  not  more  than  one  dives  at  a  time. 
The  divers  take  no  food  whatever  on  the  day  they  intend  to 
dive,  unless  the  hours  for  diving  are  to  be  very  late  in  the  day, 
when  they  take  a  little  broth  in  the  morning.  They  go  down 
with  stomachs  as  nearly  empty  as  possible,  so  that  the  action 
of  the  lungs  may  not  be  interfered  with. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  221 

In  1860,  in  order  to  conduct  pearl  gathering  in  a  more  sci- 
entific manner,  the  owner  of  the  Mexican  grants,  Seftor  Navarro, 
procured  from  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  a  number  of  expensive 
schooners,  surf-boats,  professional  divers,  and  costly  apparatus. 
After  several  years'  experience  he  found  that  his  experts,  with 
their  expensive  outfit,  were  no  more  successful  than  the  naked 
Indian  divers,  while  the  exorbitant  wages  demanded  by  them  so 
diminished  his  profits  that  he  wisely  went  back  to  the  primitive 
methods  followed  by  his  ancestors.  At  present  those  ship- 
owners who  undertake  the  fisheries  on  a  large  scale  use  appa- 
ratus imported  from  France  and  England,  by  means  of  which 
each  man  is  able  to  bring  up  daily  300  pearl  oysters.  The 
men  employed  are  powerful  Mexicans,  and  every  diver  has  five 
assistants.  Four  men  work  the  air  pumps  for  the  suited  diver, 
and  the  fifth  attends  to  the  life-line,  letting  down  the  diver 
and  hauling  him  up,  as  well  as  hoisting  up  the  nets  or  baskets 
full  of  shells  and  lowering  the  empty  ones.  The  pump-men 
are  fed  and  housed,  and  receive  $15  a  month;  the  life-line  man 
is  similarly  looked  after,  and  receives  $25  a  month  ;  the  diver 
receives  $45  a  month,  and  one-tenth  of  all  he  brings  up, 
netting  him  as  high  as  $500  a  month,  if  he  is  fortunate. 
Connected  with  each  fishing  party  is  a  schooner  of  from  60 
to  200  tons  burden,  and  two  or  three  small  boats.  The  men 
live  on  the  schooner  during  the  entire  six  months.  In  addi- 
tion there  are  numerous  divers  who  work  independently,  and 
who  show  wonderful  skill  and  aptness  in  their  work.  Generally, 
with  no  other  appliance  than  a  heavy  stone  attached  to  the 
waist,  they  plunge  naked  to  the  bottom,  select  suitable  bivalves, 
and  gather  them  into  a  bag,  remaining  under  water  as  long  as 
two  minutes.  The  shells  containing  the  pearls  vary  in  diameter 
from  2  to  8  inches,  6  inches  being  the  average  size.  They  are 
found  on  hard  rocks  or  on  sandstone  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 

4 

usually  in  bunches,  holding  to  the  rocks  by  a  fibrous  beard 
(byssus),  the  circular  opening  being  on  top  and  the  shells  usu- 
ally a  little  open.  The  oysters  are  vertical,  not  lying  on  the  flat. 
Each  diver  has  a  knife,  with  which  he  cuts  a  bunch  loose  and 
places  them  in  a  basket  or  net  by  his  side ;  this  is  hoisted  up 
when  full,  an  empty  one  descending  at  the  same  time.  On 


222  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

rising  to  the  surface,  the  fisher  empties  his  bag  into  one  of  the 
waiting  surf-boats,  which  crafts,  under  careful  guard,  deliver 
their  loads  to  a  well-armed  schooner,  the  latter  vessel  running 
into  shore  at  nights  to  discharge  the  accumulated  cargo.  Occa- 
sionally, during  all  the  time  he  is  under  water,  a  man  may  not 
send  up  a  single  shell  containing  a  pearl ;  at  other  times  there 
may  be  $10,000  worth  in  twenty  shells.  A  very  strict  police 
system  is  necessary  to  prevent  serious  thefts,  which,  despite 
the  utmost  vigilance,  are  of  daily  occurrence.  On  land  the 
cargo  is  turned  over  to  keepers,  and  the  mass  is  surrounded 
by  guards  armed  to  the  teeth.  The  shells  are  pried  open  with 
a  flat  knife,  and  the  mussel  is  separated  from  each  shell.  A 
gristly  substance  attaches  the  body  of  the  oyster  to  the  shell, 
and  covers  about  one-fourth  of  its  area,  the  remainder  being 
occupied  by  the  pearl-bearing  membrane,  a  black,  jelly-like  coat, 
and  of  course  a  part  of  the  living  shell-fish.  (See  Illustration.) 
The  shells  are  handed  over  to  another  man,  while  the  opener 
takes  the  separated  fish,  and  examines  the  inside  of  the  black 
membrane  for  the  pearls  he  is  in  search  of,  and  finally  closes 
his  fist  over  the  fish  to  squeeze  out  any  pearl  which  may  be 
lodged  in  the  interior,  after  which  the  pearls  found  are  ex- 
amined by  experts,  their  value  estimated,  and  a  settlement 
made  at  once  with  the  divers.  Usually  their  wages  amount  to 
twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  total  find,  and  they  are  paid  by  an 
allotment  of  the  pearls  taken  during  the  day.  On  the  outside 
the  shells  are  covered  with  seaweed  or  other  submarine  growths, 
and  look  not  unlike  a  Tarn  O'Shanter  cap.  All  this  growth  is 
removed,  and  the  shells  are  cleansed  and  picked,  finding  a  ready 
market  in  Liverpool,  London,  and  Hamburg  at  prices  of  from 
ten  to  twenty  cents  a  pound.  The  profit  from  these  fisheries  is 
not  as  large  as  might  be  imagined,  because  the  expenses  are  very 
heavy,  and  there  is  always  involved  a  very  considerable  element 
of  chance. 

About  1863  a  company  organized  in  New  York  City  for 
the  purpose  of  gathering  pearls  and  pearl  shells  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  and  secured  the  use  of  a  submarine  boat,  the  peculiarities 
of  which  were  that  it  carried  a  large  supply  of  fresh  air  con- 
densed within  its  walls  and  was  provided  with  a  means  of  puri- 


PEARL    OYSTER   WITH    ADHERING   PEARL 

FROM    BAY   OF   GUAYMAS,    LOWER   CALIFORNIA 


OF  THE 

WVERSIT7 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  223 

fying  the  air  in  the  working  chamber,  thus  dispensing  with  the 
necessity  of  communicating  with  the  surface  as  it  furnished  an 
atmosphere  in  which  men  could  work  for  a  whole  day  with 
perfect  ease.  The  company  procured  a  lease  of  property  at  the 
island  of  Tiburon,  hoping,  with  their  facilities,  to  secure  unusual 
returns ;  for,  with  their  submarine  boat,  they  would  have  the 
advantage  of  exploring,  locating,  and  working  beds  where  divers 
could  not  go.  Presumably  their  efforts  were  not  successful, 
for  the  company  soon  went  out  of  existence. 

During  the  subsequent  summer  a  new  company  obtained 
the  concession  for  the  Lower  California  pearl  fisheries,  and  they 
decided  that  all  the  fisheries  on  the  Gulf  of  California  should  in 
the  future  be  worked  by  Chinamen. 

For  more  than  300  years  these  fisheries  have  been  in  the 
possession  of  private  grants  dating  back  to  the  days  of  the  con- 
quest. The  Mexican  Government  has  in  recent  years  annulled 
the  old  grants  and  leased  the  fisheries  to  the  highest  bidders. 
The  house  of  Gonzales  &  Ruffo,  having  offices  both  in  La  Paz 
and  the  City  of  Mexico,  secured  a  concession  for  sixteen  years 
permitting  them  to  work  the  fisheries  around  the  Espiritu  Santo 
and  La  Paz  Islands,  which  are  considered  the  best  of  the  beds. 
The  Government  has  recently  granted  to  a  single  firm  the  ex- 
clusive right  to  raise  the  mother-of-pearl  shells,  and  for  the  re- 
production of  such  oysters  the  system  used  in  the  State  of 
Maryland  will  be  followed.  The  fisheries,  which  constitute  one 
of  the  leading  industries  of  Lower  California,  are  now  diminish- 
ing yearly,  and,  owing  to  the  continued  exploitation,  many  of 
the  ship-owners  find  themselves  losers  at  the  end  of  the  season. 

In  the  year  1831,  according  to  T.  J.  Farnham,1  more  than 
$40,000  worth  of  pearls  were  taken  from  the  coast  of  Sonora. 
The  pearls  from  this  fishery  at  one  time  brought  from  $150,000 
to  $200,000  a  year.  As  the  search  has  been  so  actively  carried 
on,  the  Government  has  deemed  it  necessary  to  prohibit  fishing 
the  second  time  for  a  period  of  two  years. 

Robert  A.  Wilson,2  in  speaking  of  pearls,  says  :  "  Their  abun- 
dance is  one  of  the  first  things  to  strike  a  stranger  on  entering 

1  Scenes  on  the  Pacific,  p.  307. 

3  Mexico,  its  Geography,  its  People,  and  its  Institutions  (New  York,  1846),  p.  307. 


224  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

Mexico.  Every  woman  above  the  rank  of  a  peasant  must  have 
at  least  one  pearl  to  ornament  the  pin  that  fastens  her  shawl  or 
mantilla  upon  the  top  of  her  head."  It  is  common  to  see  girls 
with  strings  of  pearls  around  their  necks  that  would  bring  a 
large  price  in  London,  and  there  are  women  in  La  Paz  who  have 
pearls  of  extraordinary  value,  but  are  so  poor  that  they  have  not 
means  to  buy  food. 

The  pearls  of  the  Countess  de  Regia,  of  the  Marquesa  de 
Guadeloupe,  and  of  Madame  Velasco  are  from  these  fisheries 
and  are  remarkable  for  their  size  and  value.  The  great  pearl 
presented  to  Gen.  Guadeloupe  Victoria,  while  President,  was 
from  the  same  locality.  The  pride  of  the  Spanish  regalia  is 
an  enormous  Mexican  pearl  which  was  secured  near  Loreto 
by  a  Mexican  diver.  This  most  perfect  pearl  weighs  400  grains. 
In  the  Bay  of  Muleje  a  pearl  was  taken  weighing  400  grains 
and  as  large  as  a  small  egg.  During  1883  several  notable  spe- 
cimens were  found,  among  them  a  light-brown  pearl,  flecked 
with  darker  shades,  weighing  260  grains,  and  valued  at  $8,000. 
It  was  sent  to  Paris.  Another  one  was  pear-shaped,  white,  with 
dark  specks,  weighed  176  grains,  and  sold  for  $7,500.  About 
the  same  time  the  pearl  merchants  of  La  Paz  secured  a  pearl 
from  some  unknown  Indian  diver  for  which  they  paid  $10,  and 
received  for  it  $5,500  in  France.  It  was  oval-shaped,  of  a  light 
sandy  color,  perfect  in  contour  and  brilliant  in  lustre,  and 
weighed  32  carats.  In  1881  a  black  pearl,  weighing  162  grains, 
was  sold  in  Paris  for  $10,000.  During  1884  two  other  pearls, 
weighing  respectively  140  and  124  grains,  and  of  surprising  lustre, 
brought  $11,000.  Recently  a  pearl  from  these  beds,  weighing 
48  grains,  was  sold  in  London  for  $7,500.  A  black  pearl  weigh- 
ing 108  grains,  taken  from  the  San  Lorenzo  Channel,  was  sold 
for  $3,000.  A  year  later  one  of  the  principal  shipowners 
found  a  pearl  weighing  300  grains,  and  in  the  same  year 
another  weighing  180  grains  was  sold  in  Paris  for  $1,000. 
More  recently  a  fine  pearl  was  found  in  the  Bay  of  Guaymas 
that  weighed  372  grains.  At  the  World's  Fair  held  in  Paris 
during  1889  there  was  exhibited  a  set  of  seven  black  pearls 
from  this  district  valued  at  $22,000.  The  poorer  pearls  are 
sold  in  Germany,  the  finest  in  the  United  States  and  France. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  225 

The  largest  and  finest  black  pearls  (for  it  is  the  black 
pearls  which  are  the  specialty  of  these  fisheries)  that  have  been 
found  weigh  from  120  to  140  and  even  240  grains  each. 
A  pearl  of  12  grains,  which  is  perfect  in  beauty,  color,  and 
shape,  may  be  worth  $200,  but  very  slight  defects  will  reduce 
the  price  to  one-tenth  of  that  sum.  The  best  black  pearls  found 
come  from  these  fisheries,  though  peacock-green,  blue,  green, 
gray,  and  white  ones  are  also  found.  In  shape  they  vary  great- 
ly, being  spherical,  pear-shaped,  egg-shaped,  conical,  in  the  shape 
of  a  little  round  loaf,  or  a  wax  match.  Frequently  pearls  are 
found  attached  to  and  forming  a  part  of  the  inside  of  the  shell, 
instead  of  being  in  the  membrane,  when  they  are  of  little  value, 
because  they  are  difficult  to  remove,  and  are  usually  imperfect. 

Most  of  the  pearls  from  this  place  are  sent  to  market  by 
way  of  San  Francisco.  A  letter  to  the  author  from  a  leading 
firm  there  contains  the  following :  "  The  pearl  fisheries  average 
about  5,000  carats  a  year,  which  represent  a  value  of  $200,000, 
to  which  you  must  add  about  800,000  pounds  of  pearl  shells 
representing  a  value  of  about  $180,000.  The  cost  amounts  to 
about  $100,000."  During  1887  it  is  believed  that  more  than 
$50,000  worth  of  pearls  were  found.  The  total  product  of  the 
fisheries  has  amounted  to  as  much  as  $250,000  in  a  single  year, 
and  the  sale  of  the  shells  to  as  much  more.  From  November, 
1868,  till  September,  1869,  $26,000  worth  of  pearls  were  pur- 
chased from  this  locality  by  one  New  York  house.  These  were 
of  various  sizes,  including  four  that  weighed  over  20  grains  and 
one  of  49  grains.  In  color,  the  pearls  from  this  locality  vary 
from  pure  white  through  gray  and  brown  to  black.  The  latter 
have  become  so  fashionable  in  late  years  that  their  value  has 
increased  tenfold.  One  black  pearl  weighing  50  grains  was 
valued  at  $8,000. 

Fresh-water  pearls  are  found,  as  before  stated,  in  various 
species  of  the  Unios,  more  frequently,  according  to  Dr.  Isaac 
Lea,  in  the  Unio  complanatus,  but  also  in  the  following:  U. 
Blandingianus,  U.  Buddianus,  U.  costatus,  U.  Elliotti,  U.  fragilis, 
U.  globulus,  U.  gracilis,  U.  Mortoni,  U.  nodosus,  U.  orbiculatus, 
U.  ovatus,  U.  torsus,  U.  undulatus,  and  U.  Virginianus.  Not 
one  pearl  in  a  hundred  from  Unios  is  of  good  shape,  and  prob- 


226  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

ably  not  more  than  one  in  a  hundred  is  really  fine,  therefore,  as 
the  worth  of  a  pearl  depends  on  lustre  and  form,  the  greater 
number  obtained  from  this  source  are  of  slight  value.  Rev. 
Horace  C.  Hovey,  however,  is  credited  with  having  found  a 
pearl  half  an  inch  across  in  the  shell  of  a  Unio  ovatus,  near 
Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Unio  pearls  have  been  sought  since  the 
settlement  of  this  country,  and  the  narratives  of  early  voyagers 
abound  with  references  to  them.  In  an  ancient  catalogue1  of 
objects  of  natural  history,  made  in  1749  by  John  Winthrop, 
F.  R.  S.,  the  following  items  are  mentioned  : 

"  30.   Unripe  pearls  which  in  time  would  have  become  [31]. 

31.  Bright  pearls  which    are  produced  in  the   same  shells 

[30]. 

32.  Some   of  the  larger  sea  pearl   shells  which   are   often 
found  in  deeper  waters  three  times  as  large  and  bear  larger 
pearls. 

N.  B. — Almost  all  the  lakes,  ponds,  and  brooks  contain  a 
large  fresh-water  clam  which  also  bears  pearls.  The  Indians 
say  they  have  no  pearls  in  them  at  certain  seasons,  but  at  the 
season  when  they  grow  milky,  the  pearls  are  digested  in  them, 
which  causes  their  milkiness." 

Dr.  Samuel  P.  Hildreth  writes :  "  Some  of  the  fresh-water 
shells  produce  very  fine  pearls.  I  have  one  taken  in  the  waters  of 
the  Muskingum,  from  the  shell  known  as  the  Unio  nodosus 
of  Barnes.  It  is  a  thick,  tuberculated  shell,  with  the  most  rich 
and  pearly  nacre  of  any  in  the  western  rivers.  The  specimen  is 
perfect  in  form,  being  plano-convex  on  one  side  and  a  full  hemi- 
sphere on  the  opposite.  It  is  nearly  i  inch  in  diameter  across 
the  plane  face,  and  |  inch  through  the  transverse  diameter,  and 
of  a  very  rich  pearly  lustre.  Set  in  a  gold  watch-key  and 
surrounded  by  facets  of  jet,  it  makes  a  beautiful  appearance 
and  is  by  far  the  largest  and  finest  pearl  I  have  ever  seen. 
Several  others  have  been  found,  but  none  to  be  compared  to 
this."2 

The  greatest  find  of  these  Unio  pearls  was  in  a  mound  in 
the  Little  Miami  Valley  explored  by  Prof.  Frederick  W.  Put- 

'Am.  J.  Sci.  I.  Vol.  47,  p.  284,  Jan.,  1845. 

2  Am.  J.  Sci.  I.,  Vol.  25,  p.  257,   April,    1834.      Ten  Days  in  Ohio,   from  the  Diary  of  a 
Naturalist. 


SPECIMENS    OF   PEARLS 

FROM     LITTLE   MIAMI    MOUND 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  22 7 

nam  and  Dr.  Charles  L.  Metz,  who  procured  over  60,000 
pearls,  nearly  two  bushels,  drilled  and  undrilled,  undoubt- 
edly of  Unio  origin,  all  of  them,  however,  decayed  or  much  al- 
tered, and  of  no  commercial  value.  (See  Illustration.)  In  1884 
these  scientists  examined  the  Marriott  Mound,  where  they 
found  nearly  100  Unio  shells,  and  among  other  objects  of 
special  interest  six  canine  teeth  of  bears,  that  were  perfo- 
rated by  a  lateral  hole  near  the  edge  at  the  point  of  greatest 
curvature  of  the  root,  and  by  passing  a  cord  through  this,  the 
tooth  could  be  fastened  to  any  object  or  worn  as  an  ornament. 
Two  of  these  teeth  had  a  hole  bored  through  near  the  end  of 
the  root  on  the  side  opposite  the  lateral  perforation,  and  the 
hole  countersunk  in  order  to  receive  a  large  spherical  pearl, 
about  f  inch  in  diameter.  When  the  teeth  were  found,  the 
pearls  were  in  place,  although  chalky  from  decay.  Upward 
of  250  pearl  beads  were  found,  concerning  which  they  say: 
"  The  pearl  beads  found  in  the  several  positions  mentioned  are 
natural  pearls,  probably  obtained  from  the  several  species  of 
Unios  in  the  Ohio  rivers.  In  size  they  vary  from  iV  inch  to 
£  inch  in  diameter,  and  many  are  spherical.  They  are  neatly 
drilled,  and  the  larger  from  opposite  sides.  These  pearls  are 
now  chalky  and  crumble  on  handling,  but  when  fresh  they 
would  have  formed  brilliant  necklaces  and  pendants."1 

One  of  the  most  singular  circumstances  connected  with  the 
New  Jersey  "  pearl  fever"  was  the  discovery  of  several  shells 
which  proved  that  the  local  savants  had  experimented  on  the 
pearl-bearing  Unios  by  dropping  mother-of-pearl  buttons  inside 
the  shell,  hoping  that  the  mussel  would  cover  them  with  its 
secretions.  The  specimens  found  had  apparently  been  experi- 
mented on  over  thirty  years  previous,  a  time  when  European 
scientists  were  greatly  interested  in  shells  received  from  China, 
containing  small  images  of  Buddha.  These  images  had  been 
moulded  in  tin  and  placed  between  the  mantle  and  the  shell. 
The  mussels  were  then  returned  to  their  natural  environment, 
and  after  several  months  the  layer  of  mother-of-pearl  became  of 
sufficient  thickness,  and  the  images  were  removed. 

1  Explorations  in  Ohio  from  the  Eighteenth  Report  of  the  Peabody  Museum  (Cambridge, 
1886),  p.  449. 


228  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

In  a  shell  of  the  Unio  in  the  Lea  Collection  of  the  Unioni- 
dae,  which  has  recently  been  presented  to  the  United  States 
National  Museum,  an  oval  piece  of  white  wax,  flat  on  the 
lower  side  and  rounded  on  the  upper,  which  had  been  inserted 
in  the  valve  near  the  hinge,  is  entirely  coated  with  a  beautiful 
pink  nacre.  It  has  been  broken  out  of  the  shell,  the  pearly 
nacre  of  the  lower  or  flat  side  remaining  in  the  shell,  whereas 
the  dome-shaped  piece  is  covered  with  this  material. 


FIG.  9. 
IMBEDDED    INSECT   IN    UNIO   FROM   LONG   ISLAND. 


At  the  International  Fisheries  Exhibition  held  in  Berlin 
during  1880,  there  were  shown  the  results  of  experiments  under- 
taken in  Germany  toward  the  production  of  artificial  pearls 
from  Unios,  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  practiced  by  the 
Chinese.  Flat  tin  figures,  usually  of  fish,  were  introduced  be- 
tween the  mantle  and  the  shell.  Similar  experiments  were  con- 
ducted in  the  Royal  Saxon  pearl  fisheries.  Either  small  foreign 
bodies  were  introduced  into  the  mantle,  in  order  to  furnish  the 
nucleus  for  the  free  pearl  formation,  or  the  Chinese  method  of 
inserting  such  bodies  between  the  mantle  and  the  shell  was 
followed.  From  the  second  method  successful  results  were 
shown.  The  foreign  bodies  that  had  been  introduced,  poor 
pearls  from  other  mussels,  pieces  of  grain,  or  china  buttons, 
were  entirely  covered  with  nacreous  substance.  The  shape  of 
these  objects  makes  it  impossible  for  the  mantle  to  fit  closely 
around  them,  and  hence  the  nacre  covers  them  so  irregularly  that 
it  is  quite  out  of  the  question  to  make  any  use  of  them.  From 
specimens  exhibited,  it  was  shown  that  German  oysters  could 
be  made  to  cover  a  plain  relief  with  nacre  as  well  as  those  of  China. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  2 29 

Efforts  to  make  the  river  pearl-mussel  available  in  another 
way  met  with  better  success.  In  1850,  Moritz  Schmerler  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  making  small  fancy  articles  of  the  shells 
themselves,  and  succeeded  so  well  that  the  Government 
allowed  him  to  take  from  the  royal  beds  the  shells  he  needed 
for  his  manufacturing  business.  Large  numbers  of  pearl-shell 
pocket-books  and  hand-satchels  have  been  made  since  then. 
The  almost  faultless  white  and  reddish  tinted  "rose-pearl 
mussels"  are  specially  prized  for  this  purpose,  as  the  material 
may  be  cut  so  thin  that  a  photograph  pasted  on  the  inside  can 
be  seen  through  the  shell,  conveying  the  appearance  of  being 
produced  on  the  shell  itself.  Other  manufacturers  engaged  in 
the  business  as  soon  as  its  success  became  apparent,  and  many 
hundred  thousands  of  pearl-mussels  are  now  annually  used  at 
Adorf,  where  the  business  is  chiefly  carried  on.  The  principal 
sources  of  supply  are  brooks  in  Bavaria  and  Bohemia  that 
are  owned  by  private  persons. 

Some  of  the  earliest  American  pearls,  that  were  found, 
came  from  near  Waynesville,  Ohio,  $3,000  worth  being  collected 
in  that  vicinity  during  the  pearl  excitement  of  1878.  At  that 
time,  Israel  H.  Harris,  of  Waynesville,  began  what  has  since 
become  one  of  the  finest  and  best  known  collections  of  Unio 
pearls  in  this  country,  purchasing,  during  many  years,  every 
specimen  of  value  that  he  could  find  in  that  part  of  the  State. 
Among  his  pearls  was  one  button-shaped  on  the  back  and 
weighing  38  grains,  also  several  almost  transparent  pink  ones, 
and  an  interesting  specimen  showing  where  a  pearl  had  grown 
almost  entirely  through  the  Unio.  His  collection  contained 
more  than  2,000  pearls,  weighing  over  2,000  grains,  and  is  in  all 
probability  the  last  collection  that  will  be  made  from  that  dis- 
trict. It  was  exhibited  in  the  jewelry  department  at  the  World's 
Fair  held  in  Paris  during  1889. 

Large  and  valuable  Unio  pearls  have  been  obtained  in 
New  Jersey.  In  1857  a  pearl  of  fine  lustre,  weighing  93 
grains,  was  found  at  Notch  Brook,  near  Paterson.  It  became 
known  as  the  "  Queen  Pearl,"  and  was  sold  by  Tiffany  &  Co.  to 
the  Empress  Eugenie  of  France  for  $2,500 ;  it  is  to-day  worth 
four  times  that  amount.  (See  Colored  Plate  No.  8.)  The 


230  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

news  of  this  sale  created  such  an  excitement  that  search  for 
pearls  was  started  throughout  the  country.  The  Unios  at 
Notch  Brook  and  elsewhere  were  gathered  by  the  millions  and 
destroyed,  often  with  little  or  no  result.  A  large  round  pearl, 
weighing  400  grains,  which  would  doubtless  have  been  the  finest 
pearl  of  modern  times,  was  ruined  by  boiling  open  the  shell. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  summer  of  1889  a  quantity  of 
magnificently  colored  pearls  was  found  in  the  creeks  and  rivers 
of  Wisconsin,  in  Beloit,  Rock  County  ;  Brodhead  and  Albany, 
Green  County ;  Gratiot  and  Darlington,  La  Fayette  County ; 
Boscobel  and  Potosi,  Grant  County;  Prairie  du  Chien  and 
Lynxville,  Crawford  County,  Of  these  pearls,  more  than  $10,000 
worth  were  sent  to  New  York  within  three  months;  including 
a  single  pearl  worth  more  than  $500,  and  among  them  were 
pearls  equal  to  any  ever  found  for  beauty  and  coloring.  The 
colors  were  principally  purplish  red,  copper  red,  and  dark  pink. 
A  fine,  very  round  pink  pearl  of  30  grains  was  found  in  a  Unio 
near  St.  Johns,  N.  B.,  and  now  belongs  to  George  Reynolts  of 
Toronto,  Canada. 

The  lumbermen,  while  sailing  down  the  Canadian  rivers  on 
their  rafts,  collect  Unios  for  food,  by  fastening  bushes  to  the 
rear  of  the  raft,  so  that  when  they  pass  through  the  mussel 
shoals,  where  the  rivers  are  shallow,  the  bushes  touch,  the  Unios 
close  on  the  leaves  and  thin  branches,  holding  to  them  securely ; 
and  at  intervals  the  bushes  are  taken  out  and  the  Unios  re- 
moved. Many  brooks  and  rivers,  among  them  the  Olentangg,  at 
Delaware,  Ohio,  and  a  number  of  streams  near  Columbus,  have 
been  completely  raked  and  scraped,  often  in  a  reckless  manner, 
and  consequently  with  little  result.  The  general  method  of 
collecting  shells  was  for  a  number  of  boys  and  men  to  wade 
into  the  mill-race  or  into  the  river  to  their  necks,  feeling  for  the 
sharp  ends  of  the  Unio,  which  always  project.  When  one  was 
discovered  in  this  manner,  the  finder  would  either  dive  after  it 
or  lift  it  with  his  feet.  It  was  the  custom  at  that  time  to  open 
the  shells  in  the  water,  and  once  during  the  process  a  pearl  the 
size  of  a  pigeon's  egg  is  said  to  have  been  dropped  into  the 
water  and  never  recovered. 

At  the  United  States  National  Museum   in  Washington, 


231 

D.  C.,  there  is  a  very  interesting  collection  of  pearls  and  the 
mollusks  which  bear  them,  including  the  Unio  and  the  common 
conch,  the  common  clam,  mussel  and  the  Trigona  crassatel- 
loides.  The  common  mussel  (Mytilus  edulis  Linn.)  secretes 
small  pearlaceous  bodies,  somewhat  resembling  those  from  the 
common  oyster,  but  they  have  no  value.  Trigona  crassatelloides 
of  Conrad  also  secretes  small  pearls  possessing  neither  lustre  nor 
value. 

Within  one  year  pearls  were  sent  to  the  New  York  market 
from  nearly  every  State.  In  1857  fully  $15,000  worth,  in  1858 
about  $2,000,  in  1859  about  $2,000,  in  1860  about  $1,500,  in 
1860-1863,  only  $1,500.  The  excitement  abated  until  about 
1868,  when  there  was  a  slight  revival  of  interest,  and  since  then 
many  Little  Miami  River  pearls  have  been  found.  Since  1880, 
pearls  have  come  from  a  comparatively  new  district,  the  supply 
from  which  is  apparently  on  the  increase.  At  first,  few  were 
found,  or  rather  few  were  looked  for,  west  of  Ohio,  but  gradually 
the  line  has  extended,  and  now  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and 
Texas  are  the  principal  pearl-producing  States,  and  some  pearls 
are  sent  North  from  Florida. 

Of  single  pearls,  one  from  Montpelier,  Vt.,  valued  at  $300; 
one  from  Waynesville,  Ohio,  valued  at  $200 ;  one  from  Boston, 
Tex.,  valued  at  $250;  one  pink  pearl,  19^  grains,  from  Murfrees- 
borough,  Tenn.,  valued  at  $80,  another  at  $150;  one  from 
Llano,  Tex.,  valued  at  $95,  have  been  sold  in  New  York. 

The  production  during  recent  years  has  been  as  follows  -• 

September,  1881,  to  1882 210  lots  worth  $7,500 

September,  1882,  to  1883 72    "        "         5,000 

September,  1883,  to  August,  1884 71    "        "        5,000 

That  so  few  American  conchologists  have  paid  attention 
to  American  pearls  is  probably  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
the  pearls  are  contained  in  old,  distorted,  and  diseased  shells, 
which  are  not  so  desirable  for  collections  as  the  finer  speci- 
mens. Collectors  who  have  opened  many  thousands  of  Unios 
have  never  observed  a  pearl  of  value.  Pearls  are  usually 
found  either  by  farmers,  who  devote  their  spare  time  to  this 
industry,  and,  if  no  result  is  obtained,  suffer  no  loss,  or  by  per- 


232 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


sons  in  country  villages  who  are  without  regular  occupation, 
but  are  ever  seeking  means  for  rapid  increase  of  fortune.  Many 
shells  that  do  not  contain  pearls  are  destroyed.  In  order  to 
obviate  this  wholesale  destruction,  it  would  be  well  to  use 


FIG.  10. 
METHOD    OF    OPENING   MUSSELS   IN   SAXONY   IN   ORDER  TO   SEE   IF  THEY  CONTAIN    PEARLS. 

instruments  like  those  that  have  been  employed  in  Saxony  and 
Bavaria.      In  the  former  country  a  thin,  flat  iron  tool  with  a 

bent  end  is  inserted  in  the  shell. 
The  handle  is  then  turned  to  90°, 
and  the  shell  is  opened  without  injury 
to  the  animal.  (See  Fig.  10.)  An- 
other implement  is  a  pair  of  pliers 
with  sharp-pointed  jaws  and  a  screw 
between  the  arms,  which  is  turned 
by  the  hand  until  the  valves  of  the 
shell  are  sufficiently  distended  to  see 
whether  it  contains  a  pearl.  (See 
Fig.  n.)  If  it  does  not,  the  animal 
is  returned  to  its  former  haunts, 
perhaps  to  propagate  more  valuable 
progeny.  This  wholesale  destruction, 
together  with  the  depredations  of 
hogs,  which  have  exterminated  whole  shoals  of  Unios  when  the 
brooks  were  low,  and  the  elements  introduced  into  the  water  by 
manufacturing  industries,  have  no  doubt  exhausted  many  varie- 
ties of  these  shells.  The  more  eastern  States  are  so  densely 


FIG.  II. 

INSTRUMENT     USED   IN  SAXONY  TO   OPEN 
MUSSELS  WITHOUT   KILLING  THEM. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  233 

populated  and  the  streams  so  contaminated  with  sewerage  and 
refuse  from  factories,  that  animal  life  is  rapidly  disappearing 
from  the  water-courses  in  many  localities. 

It  is  probable  that  the  existence  of  carbonate  of  lime  in 
excess  where  mussels  abound  influences  the  secretion  that 
causes  the  growth  of  the  pearl.  In  limestone  regions,  where 
the  waters  are  polluted  by  products  of  decompositions  that  are 
acid,  these  unite  with  the  lime  and  form  other  compounds,  that 
are  precipitated  or  are  carried  away  with  the  impurities  of  the 
water.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  cause  would  tend  to 
decrease  the  amount  of  lime  which  the  shell  would  receive,  thus 
not  only  retarding  the  growth  of  the  pearl,  but  often  eventually 
leading  to  the  extermination  of  the  Unio  itself.  At  nearly  all 
the  marine  pearl  fisheries,  coral-banks  abound,  and  it  may  be 
that  these  have  more  or  less  influence  on  the  development  of 
the  pearl  in  the  shell.  In  Vermont,  New  Jersey,  and  Ohio, 
where  pearls,  were  formerly  found,  a  fine  one  is  now  rarely 
obtained.  In  gathering  the  shells,  only  those  that  are  full- 
grown,  old,  and  distorted  by  disease  should  be  taken,  so  that  the 
fisheries  may  be  preserved,  and  the  shells  should  be  opened  as 
soon  as  taken  from  the  water,  and  not  allowed  to  open  by  decay 
for  this  discolors  the  pearls  ;  and  particularly,  they  must  never  be 
opened  by  boiling,  as  this  dims  the  lustre  and  lessens  the  value 
of  the  pearl. 

The  common  clam  (Venus  mercenaria)  secretes  pure  white 
pearls,  scarcely  distinguishable  from  ivory  buttons,  as  well  as 
others  faintly  tinted  with  a  purplish  blue,  passing  at  times  to 
a  reddish  purple  and  a  purplish  black.  The  white  pearls  are 
worthless,  the  tinted  ones  of  very  little  value,  but  those  of 
darker  color  are  often  from  £  to  f  of  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter, and  the  finest  ones  bring  from  $20  to  $100.  The 
supply  is  limited  and  there  is  very  little  demand,  for  unless 
the  color  is  exceptionally  good  they  possess  little  beauty,  lack- 
ing the  lustre  peculiar  to  other  pearls  ;  still,  when  mounted  with 
diamonds,  the  appearance  of  the  darker  ones  is  much  improved. 

It  would  seem  from  an  article  on  wampum,  written  by  Dr. 
Samuel  L.  Mitchell  in  1825,  that  clam  pearls  were  of  much  more 
frequent  occurrence  in  the  early  part  of  the  century  than  they 


234  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

are  now.  "  To  form  an  opinion,"  says  Dr.  Mitchell,  "  of  the 
frequency  of  their  occurrence,  I  mention  a  circumstance  that 
happened  on  Long  Island.  A  man  desirous  of  making  a  col- 
lection of  clam  pearls  gave  notice  through  the  neighborhood 
that  he  would  pay  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  each  for  those  of  proper 
size  ;  and  in  the  course  of  two  months  he  received  two  dozen. 
The  clam-mongers  in  the  city  save  the  pearls  they  find  on  open- 
ing the  shells,  and  sell  them  to  persons  who  come  to  the  stalls 
in  the  market  to  purchase  them."  He  himself  possessed  a  pur- 
plish one  weighing  69  grains,  which  surpassed  all  that  he  had 
ever  heard  of. 

The  manufacture  of  wampum  to  be  sold  or  traded  to  the 
Indians  is  an  old  American  industry,  and  the  manufacture  is 
still  in  the  hands  of  the  Campbell  family,  who  originated  it. 
The  first  to  engage  in  this  industry  was  John  Campbell,  who 
was  succeeded  by  Abraham  Campbell,  and  by  the  survivors  of 
the  four  sons  of  Abraham,  the  youngest  of  whom  is  now  over 
seventy-five  years  old.  Mrs.  Erminnie  A.  Smith  described  the 
manufacture,1  and  took  a  series  of  the  beads,  to  represent  the 
industry,  to  the  New  Orleans  Exposition.  She  says  : 

"  Originally  the  grandfather  of  the  Campbells,  who  resided 
at  Tea  Neck,  N.  J.,  would  make  trips  to  Rockaway  in  a  boat 
which,  when  they  returned,  was  loaded  with  clams  (Venus 
mercenaria),  the  meat  of  which  was  given  to  the  country 
people  in  return  for  opening  the  shells.  The  blue 'heart' of 
the  clam,  as  it  was  called,  was  cut  out  and  made  into  beads 
used  for  the  groundwork  of  the  wampum  belts.  At  one  time 
this  industry  flourished  so  that  thousands  of  dollars  were  paid 
out  weekly  to  buy  the  beads  made  by  the  white  country-people 
who  manufactured  them  at  the  time.  The  hole  of  the  bead  was 
made  with  an  arm-drill  and  they  were  polished  or  ground  on 
grindstones.  The  white  beads  were  not  made  from  the  clam, 
but  from  conch-shells  (Strombus  gigas),  which  they  have  always 
imported  from  the  West  Indies.  The  young  clams  cannot  be 
used,  and  the  old  have  so  decreased  in  number  that  this  branch 
of  the  industry  has  been  greatly  reduced." 

When    Mrs.  Smith    visited   the  Campbells    she  had   with 

1  Science,  Vol.  5,  p.  3. 


UNITED    STATES,   CANADA    AND    MEXICO  235 

her  an  Iroquois  wampum  belt,  bearing  the  marks  of  age,  which 
they  immediately  pronounced  to  have  been  made  after  their 
manner.  Although  they  had  been  familiar  with  Indians,  they 
had  never  known  of  their  making  the  beads.  They  had  always 
depended  upon  the  trappers  for  their  market,  and  related  inci- 
dents connected  with  their  dealings  with  "fur  companies,"  etc. 
The  conch-shell  is  used  also  in  the  manufacture  of  "pipes," 
beads,  rosettes,  etc.  The  "  pipes "  vary  in  length  from  2  to  6 
inches,  and  resemble  a  tobacco-pipe  stem  with  bulging  sides ; 
those  of  6  inches  in  length  are  quite  rare,  and  are  highly 
prized.  The  rosettes  consist  of  a  concentric  series  of  round,  flat 
disks  placed  on  them,  secured  one  to  the  other  by  means  of  a 
string  passed  through  the  holes  drilled  in  the  center. 

The  common  oysters  (Ostrea  borealis  and  Ostrea  Virginica) 
occasionally  secrete  one  or  more  pearly  bodies,  always  dead- 
white  in  color.     The  reflections  produced  by  their  fibrous,  radi- 
ated structure  is  similar  to  that  observed  in  the 
common  conch.     The  "  skin  "  of  these  pearls  is 
never  smooth  or  lustrous,  and  consequently  they 
have  no  value.     Rev.   Horace  C.   Hovey,  in   a 
FIG.  12.  letter  to  the  author  states  that  he  had   found 

CURIOUSLY-SHAPED    PEARL 

FROM  COMMON  OYSTER,  twenty-nine  pearls  in  a  single  common  oyster 
(O.  borealis)  at  New  Haven,  Conn.  In  the  Smithsonian  report 
for  1 88 1  it  is  stated  that  Charles  E.  Ash  took  forty-five  pearls 
from  a  single  oyster  in  Providence  Bay.  A  curiously  formed 
oyster  pearl  is  shown  in  Fig.  1 2. 

CONCH  PEARLS. — That  is,  the  concretions  found  in  the 
common  conch  (Strombus  gigas),  are  not  nacreous,  and  there- 
fore cannot  be  considered  true  pearls.  They  are  usually  a  little 
elongated  or  oblong  in  form,  rarely  round,  and  most  of  them  are 
very  beautiful,  owing  to  the  reflections  produced  by  their  fibrous 
stellated  structure  causing  the  light  to  play  over  the  surface, 
but  giving  a  different  effect  from  the  cat's-eye  or  that  of  satin- 
spar.  They  are  almost  always  pink  in  color  and  the  fine  ones 
are  wonderfully  lustrous. 

James  R.  Curry,  of  Key  West,  Fla.,  states  that  there  and  at 
Tortugas,  fully  15,000  of  these  shells  are  used  annually  for  food 
and  for  bait,  being  sold  at  the  rate  of  three  for  ten  cents, 


236  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

uncleaned.  He  has  paid  some  attention  to  pearl-collecting,  and 
has  never  observed  more  than  one  in  a  shell.  He  instances 
one  as  large  as  a  small  hazel-nut.  A  few  found  by  him  were 
really  finer  in  color  than  those  from  the  West  Indies,  although 
not  so  regular  in  form.  The  principal  shades  are  canary, 
salmon-pink,  pink,  and  pure  white.  The  value  of  none  was 
over  $50.  Conch  pearls  from  the  West  Indies  have  occasion- 
ally been  observed  half  an  inch  in  length  and  of  very  fine 
quality,  and  are  sometimes  worth  $1,000  apiece;  yet  the  taste 
for  pink  pearls  is  on  the  increase,  although  for  years  the  de- 
mand has  been  somewhat  limited  in  the  United  States.  A 
necklace  of  these  pearls  valued  at  $4,00x3  has  been  collected, 
which  is  worthy  of  mention. 

The  pearls  of  the  queen  conch  vary  in  color  from  a  rich 
yellow  to  a  yellowish-brown  shade,  and  if  anything  are  more 
highly  polished  than  those  of  the  Strombus  gigas,  or  pink 
conch.  Cassis  cornuta,  C.  tuberosa,  C.  Madagascarensis,  C.  rufa, 
also  contain  pearly  concretions,  varying  from  yellow  to  brown, 
somewhat  similar  to  those  from  the  common  conch,  but  no  large 
ones  have  as  yet  been  observed. 

The  Abalone  (Haliotis  or  Ear-Shell),  the  principal  species 
of  which  are  Haliotis  splendens  and  Haliotis  rufescens  (called 
ormer  in  the  Channel  Islands,  fuh-yu  in  China,  awabi  in  Japan, 
and  abalone  in  California),  also  secretes  pearls.  (See  Illustra- 
tion.) The  nacreous  portion  of  the  shell  itself  is  used  for 
ornamental  purposes,  such  as  buttons,  etc.,  and  surface  orna- 
mentation in  lacquer  work,  papier-mache,  etc.  The  mollusk 
itself,  called  "mutton-fish"  by  the  New  Zealanders,  has  long 
been  known  to  the  Indians  of  the  Pacific  coast  as  a  valuable 
article  of  food,  and  it  is  much  sought  after  by  the  Japanese  and 
Chinese  for  the  same  purpose.  The  former  take  only  the  very 
smallest  fish,  and  eat  them  when  freshly  caught  with  cayenne 
pepper  and  vinegar,  while  the  Chinese  seek  out  the  largest,  and 
eat  them  only  after  they  have  been  dried.1 

The  fishing  is  conducted  at  low  tide,  the  principal  grounds 
on  the  coast  being  along  the  Catalina  and  Santa  Rosa  Islands, 
in  the  Santa  Barbara  Channel,  and  from  Monterey  to  San 

1  From  an  article  on  this  subject  by  Charles  R.  Orcutt. 


ABALONE   SHELL.      (HALIOTES   SPLENDENS) 

FROM   SEAL    ROCK,   SAN    DIEGO    COUNTY,   CAL. 


UHIVERSIT7 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  237 

Diego,  although  a  large  number  are  gathered  in  Halfmoon  Bay 
and  from  the  rocks  that  line  the  shore  of  Mendocino  County. 
The  ear  shells  attach  themselves  to  the  rocks  by  means  of 
their  large  muscular  disk-shaped  foot  (so  called)  which  acts  like 
a  sucker  or  exhaust  cup.  Just  before  the  tide  leaves  them  on 
the  ebb  and  just  after  it  has  reached  them  on  the  flow,  the 
abalones  keep  their  shells  slightly  raised  above  the  surface  of 
the  rock  with  the  feelers  drawn  in.  Then  the  fisherman,  with 
either  a  long,  broad  knife  or  a  spade-like  instrument — both  are 
used — gives  a  quick  lift  to  the  sucker  or  foot,  letting  in  the  air. 
The  suction  is  destroyed  and  the  fish  falls  off,  when  it  is  seized 
and  thrown  into  a  boat  or  basket,  before  it  can  fasten  itself 
afresh.  If  the  fish  lies  below  water,  a  sort  of  grappling  iron  is 
let  down,  and  after  the  point  is  inserted  under  the  shell  a  vigor- 
ous wrench  pulls  it  away.  All  this  has  to  be  done  quickly  and 
quietly,  for  if  the  abalone  closes  down  on  the  rock,  it  cannot  be 
drawn  off,  so  great  is  its  power  of  adhesion,  and  it  will  be 
broken  into  fragments  before  it  releases  its  hold.  When  caught, 
the  abalones  are  thrown  on  the  beach,  and  the  fish  is  pulled 
from  the  shell  with  a  flat,  sharp  stick,  and  stripped  of  its  curtain, 
boiled,  salted,  and  strung  on  long  rods  to  dry  in  the  air.  This 
process  is  very  disagreeable,  and  that  of  stripping  and  cleaning 
so  offensive  that  none  but  Chinese  will  undertake  it.  The 
abalones  must  be  as  hard  as  sole-leather  when  properly  dried, 
and  they  are  then  packed  in  sacks,  and  sent  to  China.  The 
price  of  the  meat  is  from  five  to  eight  cents  a  pound  in  San 
Francisco,  or  from  seven  to  ten  cents  a  pound  in  China.  When 
cooked,  it  is  cut  into  strips  and  boiled,  the  taste  being  similar 
to  that  of  the  clam,  but  with  a  more  meatlike  consistency. 

The  trade  in  this  dried  meat  is  considerable.  In  1866  there 
were  exported  from  San  Francisco  by  steamer  1,697  sacks,  val- 
ued at  $14,440,  and  in  1867  the  exports  had  risen  to  3,713 
sacks,  valued  at  $33,090.  At  present  there  are  exported  up- 
wards of  200  tons  a  year,  which  at  $175  a  ton  would  amount 
to  $35,000.  At  San  Diego,  Cal.,  the  dried  meat  is  quoted  at 
$noa  ton.  The  shells  vary  from  almost  microscopic  size  to 
eight  or  ten  inches  in  diameter.  Before  they  were  found  to  be 
of  any  marketable  value,  they  were  thrown  away.  One  heap  a 


238  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

little  south  of  San  Diego,  containing  over  a  hundred  tons  of 
shells,  from  exposure  to  the  rain  and  the  sun  was  converted 
into  lime  on  the  outside,  but  this  was  broken  into  and  many 
fine  shells  were  found. 

The  shell  in  its  natural  state  is  no  more  attractive  than 
that  of  the  oyster ;  it  is  rough  on  the  outside,  looking  much  like 
a  piece  of  dried  brown  clay,  and  is  frequently  covered  with  a 
growth  of  barnacles,  seaweeds,  etc.  Commercially  there  are  five 
varieties,  the  green,  the  black,  the  red,  the  pink,  and  the 
mottled ;  but  considering  them  from  an  ornamental  standpoint, 
the  shells  may  be  grouped  under  three  heads,  red,  black, 
and  green,  so-called,  of  course,  from  their  prevalent  color.  The 
black,  which  is  the  smallest  and  least  valuable,  is  found  from 
Monterey  down  to  the  Gulf  of  California;  the  red,  which  is  next 
in  value,  but  the  largest  in  size,  is  found  from  Mendocino  to 
Monterey  ;  while  the  green  comes  from  below  San  Diego.  The 
black  seldom  exceeds  6  inches  in  diameter,  the  green  rarely 
goes  beyond  9,  while  the  red  runs  as  high  as  1 2  or  14  inches. 
The  black  is  not  beautiful  on  the  outside,  even  when  cleansed 
of  lime  and  marine  parasites,  but  inside  there  lies  a  small  patch 
of  the  most  beautiful  opalescent  tints,  and  this  is  sawn  out,  and 
made  into  brooches  and  lockets.  The  red  is  of  a  general 
mother-of-pearl  appearance,  with  stripes  and  mottles  of  a  rich 
burnt  umber.  The  green,  both  within  and  without,  is  full  of 
fire  and  color,  some  interiors  being  fully  as  vivid  and  of  much 
the  same  prevailing  color  as  a  peacock's  neck.  This  variety  is 
principally  used  for  jewelry,  and  is  worked  into  every  kind  of 
ornament,  from  a  table-top,  inlaid  with  representations  of  flow- 
ers and  butterflies,  to  the  smaller  varieties  of  jewelry.  The 
Pueblo,  Zuni,  and  Navajo  Indians,  and  all  the  Indians  of  the 
California  coast  as  far  north  as  Alaska,  have  made  it  into 
charms  and  have  used  it  for  ornamentation  for  ages.  It  has 
been  used  as  an  applied  decoration  on  silver  objects,  and  was 
exhibited  at  the  World's  Fair  held  in  Paris  during  1889. 

The  play  of  colors  is  attributed  by  Sir  David  Brewster  to  min- 
ute striae  or  grooves  on  the  surface  of  the  nacre  alternating  with 
the  grooves  of  animal  membrane.  These  laminae  decompose 
the  light  in  consequence  of  the  interference  caused  by  the 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  239 

reflection  from  the  two  sides  of  each  film,  as  may  be  seen  in 
soap-bubbles.  The  nacreous  laminae  when  magnified  are  seen 
to  be  of  minute  cellular  structure. 

The  first  adaptation  of  the  abalone  shell  to  ornamental  pur- 
poses was  made  by  an  English  worker  in  mother-of-pearl  who 
went  to  San  Francisco  more  than  twenty  years  ago.  He  saw 
the  possibilities  of  the  wonderful,  brilliant  shell,  and  began  a 
business  which  now  requires  the  services  of  more  than  ten  men. 
The  little  trifles  made  of  this  shell  are  considered  by  the  eastern 
visitor  and  the  European  tourist  as  distinctively  Californian  as 
a  piece  of  big-tree  bark.  The  incrustations  were  formerly 
removed  by  soaking  the  shells  in  a  bath  of  muriatic  acid,  but  it 
was  found  that  this  process  injured  the  texture,  and  they  are 
now  cleaned  and  polished  by  friction  lathes.  Twenty  years  ago 
abalone  shells  were  considered  so  worthless  that  freight  steamers 
would  not  transport  a  bag  of  them  without  advance  payment  for 
the  freight.  Now  they  are  worth  $150  to  $175  a  ton  in  New 
York  and  Liverpool.  The  shells  are  shipped  first  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, where  they  are  assorted  and  the  damaged  ones  thrown 
aside,  about  three  tons  of  merchantable  shells  being  procured 
from  five  tons  of  material  as  it  comes  from  the  abalone  hunters. 
These  shells  are  quoted  (1889)  in  San  Diego  at  $20,  $25,  and 
$35  a  ton  according  to  quality,  and  in  consequence  of  such  low 
prices  the  trade  is  comparatively  dull.  The  output  of  the 
shells  during  1888  was  estimated  at  300  tons.  The  amount 
of  shells  made  into  jewelry  in  San  Francisco  is  very  small 
compared  with  that  consumed  by  the  button-makers  of 
France,  England,  Germany,  and  New  York.  Orders  for 
abalone  shells  are  constantly  received  from  these  places,  and 
there  are  times  when  the  export  reaches  as  high  a  figure  as  100 
tons  a  week.  The  collector  of  customs  at  San  Francisco  fur- 
nishes the  information  that  for  the  fiscal  year  1887-1888  the 
export  of  abalone  shell  amounted  to  $185,414,  which,  together 
with  $35,000,  the  value  of  the  dried  meat  annually  exported, 
makes  this  quite  an  important  industry.  These  shells  secrete 
very  curious  pearly  masses,  sometimes  of  fine  lustre  and  choice 
enough  to  deserve  a  place  among  pearls.  A  pearl  measuring 
2  inches  in  length  and  from  i  to  ^  inch  in  width  has  been 


240  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

found.  A  necklace  made  in  California  from  the  finest  speci- 
mens was  valued  at  over  $2,000.  A  pearl  over  half  an  inch 
long  and  of  good  color  cost  $30  and  was  used  as  the  body  of  a 
jeweled  fly.  The  abalone  pearls  from  the  coasts  of  Korea  and 
Japan  are  often  very  beautiful.  In  a  lot  of  about  one  hundred 
shells  only  five  were  found  bearing  pearls,  two  with  three  pearls 
each,  two  with  two  pearls  each,  and  one  with  a  single  pearl. 

The  history  of  American  pearls  dates  back  to  the  dis- 
covery of  the  New  World.  Arthur  Helps1  says  : 

"  It  is  strange  that  this  little  glistening  bead,  the  pearl, 
should  have  been  the  cause  of  so  much  movement  in  the  world 
as  it  has  been.  There  must  be  something  essentially  beautiful 
in  it,  however,  for  it  has  been  dear  to  the  eyes  both  of  civilized 
and  uncivilized  people.  The  dark-haired  Roman  lady,  in  the 
palmiest  days  of  Rome,  cognizant  of  all  the  beautiful  produc- 
tions in  the  world,  valued  the  pearl  as  highly  as  ever  did  the 
simple  Indian  woman,  and  a  love  for  these  glistening  beads 
came  upon  the  Spaniards  from  two  quarters,  from  the  Romans 
who  had  colonized  them,  and  from  the  Moors  they  had  con- 
quered.  The  perilous  nature,  however,  of  his  submarine  pos- 
sessions was  not  yet  visible  to  the  poor  innocent  Indian  on  the 
coast  of  Paria  or  Cumana,  and  it  was  with  childish  delight  that 
he  threw  the  strings  of  pearls,  strung  in  a  way  that  would  have 
driven  the  jewelers  of  Europe  wild  with  vexation,  on  the 
smooth  brown  arm  or  rich  brown  neck  of  his  beloved." 

Of  Columbus2  it  is  said  that  the  natives  of  Paria  possessed 
such  quantities  of  fine  pearls  that  the  most  sanguine  anticipa- 
tions were  roused  in  him.  Remembering  the  assertion  of  Pliny, 
that  pearls  were  generated  from  drops  of  dew  which  fell  into 
the  mouths  of  oysters,  he  deemed  no  place  so  propitious  as  this 
coast  for  their  growth  and  multiplication.  When  nearing  the 
island  of  Cubagua,  this  admiral,  Charlevoix  tells  us,  beheld  a 
number  of  Indians  fishing  for  pearls,  who  at  the  approach  of 
the  strangers  at  once  made  for  the  land.  A  boat  being  sent  to 
communicate  with  them,  one  of  the  sailors  noticed  many  strings 

1  The  Spanish  Conquest  of  America  (London,  1855),  Vol.  2,  p.  89. 

4  Life  and  Voyages  of  Columbus  and  his  Companions,  by  Washington  Irving  (New  York,  1849), 
Vol.  2,  p.  123. 


UNITED    STATES,   CANADA    AND    MEXICO  24! 

of  pearls  around  the  neck  of  a  woman.  Having  a  plate  of  Valen- 
cia-ware, a  kind  of  porcelain  painted  and  varnished  with  gaudy 
colors,  he  broke  it,  and  presented  the  pieces  to  the  Indian 
woman,  who  gave  him  in  exchange  a  considerable  number  of 
her  pearls.  These  he  carried  to  the  admiral,  who  immediately 
sent  persons  on  shore  well  provided  with  Valencian  plates  and 
hawks'-bells,  for  which,  in  a  little  time,  he  procured  about  three 
pounds'  weight  of  pearls,  some  of  which  were  of  a  very  large  size, 
and  were  sent  by  him  afterward  to  the  sovereigns  as  specimens. 

At  the  time  of  the  Spanish  invasion,  the  pearl  was  held  in 
high  esteem  by  the  Mexican  people  as  an  ornament,  and,  upon 
occasions  of  state,  its  beauties  were  invoked  to  increase  the 
magnificence  of  the  apparel  and  lend  additional  lustre  to  the 
pomp  of  royalty.  When  Montezuma  alighted  from  his  regal 
palanquin,  "  blazing  with  burnished  gold  "  and  overshadowed  by 
a  "  canopy  of  gaudy  feather-work  powdered  with  jewels  and 
fringed  with  silver,"  to  grant  personal  audience  to  Cortez,  his 
cloak  and  golden-soled  sandals  were  sprinkled  with  pearls  and 
precious  stones. 

To  Vasco  Nuftez  de  Balboa,  Tumaco  gave  jewels  of  gold 
and  200  pearls  of  great  size  and  beauty,  although  they  were 
somewhat  discolored.  Observing  the  value  which  the  Span- 
iards set  upon  them,  the  cacique  sent  a  number  of  his  men  to 
fish  for  them.  The  largest  pearls  were  generally  found  in  the 
deepest  water,  sometimes  in  three  or  four  fathoms,  and  were 
sought  only  in  calm  weather.  The  smaller  pearls  were  taken 
at  a  depth  of  two  or  three  feet,  and  the  oysters  containing  them 
were  often  driven  in  quantities  on  the  beach  during  the  violent 
storms.  The  party  of  pearl  divers  sent  by  the  cacique  consisted 
of  thirty  Indians,  with  whom  Balboa  sent  six  Spaniards  as  eye- 
witnesses. A  number  of  the  shell-fish  were  driven  on  shore, 
from  which  they  collected  enough  to  yield  pearls  to  the  value  of 
twelve  marks  of  gold.  They  were  small  but  exceedingly  beau- 
tiful, not  having  been  injured  by  heat  like  those  collected  by 
the  Indians,  who  opened  the  shells  by  putting  them  in  a  fire, 
and  many  of  these  pearls  were  sent  to  Spain  as  specimens.1 

1  Life  and  Voyages  of  Columbus  and  his  Companions,  by  Washington  Irving  (New  York,  1849), 
Vol.  3,  p.  181. 


242  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

Oviedo,  the  Spanish  historian,  commemorates  the  circum- 
stance that  this  cacique,  Tumaco,  subsequently  furnished  Bal- 
boa with  a  canoe  formed  from  the  trunk  of  an  enormous  tree 
and  managed  by  a  great  number  of  Indians.  The  handles  of 
the  paddles  were  inlaid  with  small  pearls,  a  fact  which  Balboa 
caused  his  companions  to  testify  before  the  notary,  that  it 
might  be  reported  to  the  sovereigns  as  a  proof  of  the  wealth  of 
this  newly  discovered  sea.  In  another  bay  of  the  Pacific  coast, 
this  bold  navigator  saw  groups  of  islands  abounding  with  pearls, 
many  of  them  as  large  as  a  man's  eye. 

Barnard  Shipp  states,  "The  first  Spaniards  who  landed  on 
terra  firma  found  savages  decked  with  necklaces  and  bracelets 
of  pearls,  and  among  the  civilized  people  of  Mexico  and  Peru, 
pearls  of  a  beautiful  form  were  generally  sought  after.  The 
Indians  of  Virginia  wore  pendants  in  their  ears,  and  round  their 
arms  chains  and  bracelets  of  pearls." ' 

When  the  King  of  Spain  made  Hernando  De  Soto  Governor 
of  Cuba  and  conqueror  of  Florida,  with  the  title  of  Adelantado, 
his  concession  provided  that  one-fifth  of  all  the  gold  and  silver, 
precious  stones  and  pearls,  won  in  battle,  or  entering  towns,  or 
obtained  by  barter  with  the  Indians,  be  reserved  to  the  Crown. 
It  was  further  stipulated  that  the  gold  and  silver,  stones,  pearls, 
and  other  things  which  might  be  found  and  taken,  as  well  in  the 
graves,  sepulchers,  ocues  or  temples  of  the  Indians,  as  in  other 
places  where  they  were  accustomed  to  offer  sacrifices  to  idols, 
or  in  other  concealed  religious  precincts  or  buried  houses,  or  in 
any  other  public  place,  "  should  be  equally  divided  between  the 
king  and  the  party  making  the  discovery."5 

It  is  evident  that  among  the  valuable  trophies  of  this  ex- 
pedition, precious  pearls  were  confidently  anticipated,  and  that 
the  Spaniards  were  not  disappointed  in  this  expectation  the 
early  narratives  abundantly  testify.  These  establish  beyond  all 
controversy  that  pearls  were  used  as  ornaments  among  the  In- 
dians of  Florida  and  the  South. 

It  is  related  how,  near  the  Bay  of  Espiritu  Santo  (now 
Tampa  Bay),  in  Florida,  the  followers  of  De  Soto  came  upon 

1  The  History  of  Hernando  De  Soto  and  Florida  (Philadelphia,  1881). 

2  Antiquities  of  the  Southern  Indians,  by  Chailes  C.  Jones  (New  York,  1873),  p.  467. 


UNITED    STATES,   CANADA    AND    MEXICO  243 

the  town  of  an  Indian  chief  called  Ucita.  His  house  stood 
near  the  beach,  and  at  the  other  end  of  the  town  was  a  temple, 
on  the  top  of  which  perched  a  wooden  fowl  with  gilded  eyes. 
Within  these  eyes  were  pearls  such  as  the  Indians  greatly 
value,  piercing  them  for  beads  and  stringing  them  to  wear  about 
their  necks  and  wrists. 

When  the  Indian  queen  welcomed  the  Spanish  adventurer 
to  the  hospitalities  of  the  Cutifachiqui,  she  drew  from  over 
her  head  a  long  string  of  pearls,  and  throwing  it  around  his 
neck,  exchanged  with  him  gracious  words  of  friendship  and 
courtesy.  Observing  that  the  Christians  valued  these  pearls, 
the  cacica  told  the  governor  that  if  he  would  order  some  sepul- 
chers  to  be  searched  that  were  in  the  village,  he  would  find  many ; 
and,  if  he  chose  to  send  to  those  which  were  in  the  uninhabited 
towns,  he  might  load  all  his  horses  with  them.  The  Spaniards 
did  examine  and  rifle  of  their  contents  the  sepulchers  in  Cuti- 
fachiqui ;  and,  upon  the  authority  of  the  Knight  of  Elvas, 
obtained  from  them  350  pounds' weight  of  pearls,  some  of  which 
were  formed  after  the  similitude  of  babies  and  birds.  If  the 
truth  were  known,  or  if  an  Indian  had  written  this  account,  we 
should  feel  assured  that  De  Soto  and  his  companions,  in  their 
eager  quest  for  treasures,  violated  the  graves  without  permis- 
sion and  plundered  the  receptacles  wherein  were  gathered  the 
most  costly  possessions  of  the  natives.  As  a  proof  that  the 
Indians  did  not  willingly  part  with  these  ornaments,  but  suf- 
fered the  pillage  through  fear  of  these  strange  and  wanton  men, 
we  are  informed  that  when  the  cacica,  whom  De  Soto  com- 
pelled to  accompany  him  with  the  intention  of  taking  her  to 
Guaxule,  which  was  the  farthest  limit  of  her  territory,  -suc- 
ceeded in  making  her  escape,  she  carried  back  with  her  a 
cane  box  filled  with  unbored  pearls,  the  most  precious  of 
all  her  jewels. 

Luys  Hernandez  de  Biedma  says  that  the  governor,  while 
at  this  town,  opened  a  "mosque"  in  which  were  interred  the 
chief  personages  of  that  country.  "  From  it  we  took  a  quantity  of 
pearls  of  the  weight  of  as  many  as  6£  or  7  arrobas,  though  they 
were  injured  from  lying  in  the  earth  and  in  the  adipose  sub- 
stance of  the  dead."  In  the  estimate  of  the  relator,  one  of  the 


244  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

saddest  losses  encountered  by  the  expedition  in  the  bloody 
affair  at  Mauilla  was  the  destruction  of  the  pearls  which  the 
Spaniards  had  been  sedulously  collecting  during  their  wander- 
ings in  this  strange  land. 

The  most  minute  and  interesting  description  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  Indians  obtained  pearls  and  converted  them  into 
beads  is  that  furnished  by  Garcilasso  Inca  de  la  Vega.  During 
the  time  when  De  Soto  remained  in  the  town  of  Ichiaha,  which 
was  probably  located  at  or  near  the  confluence  of  the  Etowah 
and  Oostanaula  Rivers,  and  possibly  the  very  spot  now  occu- 
pied by  the  village  of  Rome,  Ga.,  the  following  circumstances 
occurred :  "  The  cacique  came  one  day  to  the  governor,  bringing 
him  a  present  of  a  string  of  pearls,  five  feet  in  length.  These 
pearls  were  as  large  as  filberts,  and  had  they  not  been  bored  by 
means  of  fire,  which  had  discolored  them,  would  have  been  of 
immense  value.  De  Soto  thankfully  received  them,  and  in 
return  presented  the  Indian  chief  with  pieces  of  velvet  and 
cloth  of  various  colors,  and  other  Spanish  trifles  held  in  much 
esteem  by  the  natives.  In  reply  to  the  demand  of  De  Soto, 
the  cacique  stated  that  the  pearls  had  been  obtained  in  the 
neighborhood.  He  further  told  him  that  in  the  sepulcher  of 
his  ancestors  was  amassed  a  prodigious  quantity,  of  which  the 
Spaniards  were  welcome  to  carry  away  as  many  as  they  pleased. 
The  Adelantado  thanked  him  for  his  good  will,  but  replied  that, 
much  as  he  wished  for  pearls,  he  never  would  insult  the  sanctu- 
aries of  the  dead  to  obtain  them,  adding  that  he  only  accepted 
the  string  of  pearls  from  the  chieftain's  hands. 

"  De  Soto  having  expressed  a  curiosity  to  see  the  manner  of 
extracting  pearls  from  the  shells,  the  cacique  instantly  de- 
spatched forty  canoes  to  fish  for  oysters  during  the  night.  At 
an  early  hour  next  morning,  a  quantity  of  wood  was  gathered 
and  piled  up  on  the  river  bank,  and  being  set  on  fire  was 
speedily  reduced  to  glowing  embers.  As  soon  as  the  canoes 
arrived,  the  oysters  were  laid  upon  the  hot  coals.  They  quickly 
opened  with  the  heat,  and  from  some  of  the  first  thus  opened, 
the  Indians  obtained  ten  or  twelve  pearls  as  large  as  peas, 
which  they  brought  to  the  governor  and  the  cacique,  who  were 
standing  together  looking  on.  They  were  of  a  fine  quality,  but 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  245 

somewhat  discolored  by  the  fire  and  smoke.  The  Indians  were 
apt  also  to  further  injure  pearls  thus  obtained  by  boring  them 
with  a  heated  copper  instrument. 

"  De  Soto,  having  gratified  his  curiosity,  returned  to  his 
quarters  to  partake  of  his  morning  meal.  While  thus  engaged 
a  soldier  entered  with  a  large  pearl  in  his  hand.  He  had 
stewed  some  oysters,  and  in  eating  them,  felt  the  pearl  between 
his  teeth.  Not  having  been  injured  by  fire  or  smoke,  it  re- 
tained its  beautiful  whiteness,  and  was  so  large  and  perfect  in 
its  form  that  several  Spaniards,  who  pretended  to  be  skilled  in 
those  matters,  declared  it  would  be  worth  400  ducats.  The  sol- 
dier would  have  given  it  to  the  governor  to  present  to  his  wife, 
Dona  Isabel  de  Bobadilla,  but  De  Soto  declined  the  generous 
offer,  advising  him  to  preserve  it  until  he  should  arrive  at 
Havana,  when  he  could  purchase  horses  and  other  necessaries 
with  it ;  moreover,  as  a  reward  for  his  liberality,  De  Soto  in- 
sisted upon  paying  the  fifth  of  the  value  due  the  Crown."1 

During  the  course  of  the  weary  march  of  the  expedition 
through  the  mountains  of  Upper  Georgia,  the  following  circum- 
stance is  related  by  the  same  historian. 

"A  foot-soldier,  calling  to  a  horseman  who  was  his  friend, 
drew  forth  from  his  wallet  a  linen  bag  in  which  were  six  pounds 
of  pearls,  probably  filched  from  one  of  the  Indian  sepulchers. 
These  he  offered  as  a  gift  to  his  comrade,  being  heartily  tired 
of  carrying  them  on  his  back,  though  he  had  a  pair  of  broad 
shoulders  capable  of  bearing  the  burden  of  a  mule.  The  horse- 
man refused  to  accept  so  thoughtless  an  offer.  '  Keep  them 
yourself,'  said  he.  'You  have  most  need  of  them.  The  governor 
intends  shortly  to  send  messengers  to  Havana,  when  you  can 
forward  these  presents  and  have  them  sold,  and  obtain  three  or 
four  horses  with  the  proceeds,  so  that  you  need  no  longer  go 
on  foot.'  Juan  Terron  was  piqued  at  having  his  offer  refused. 
'  Well,'  said  he,  '  if  you  will  not  have  them,  I  swear  I  will  not 
carry  them,  and  they  shall  remain  here.'  So  saying,  he  untied 
the  bag,  and  whirling  it  around,  as  if  he  were  sowing  seed, 

1  The  foregoing  is  taken  from  Theodore  living's  Conquest  of  Florida  under  Hernando  De 
Soto  (London,  1835),  Vol.  2,  p.  14,  and  is  from  Pierre  Richelet's  translation  made  in  1831.  De 
la  Vega's  entire  work,  translated  from  the  same  source,  appears  in  the  History  of  Hernando  De 
Soto  and  Florida,  by  Barnard  Shipp  (Philadelphia,  1881). 


246  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

scattered  the  pearls  in  all  directions  among  the  thickets  and 
herbage.  Then  putting  up  the  bag  in  his  wallet,  as  if  it  was 
more  valuable  than  the  pearls,  he  marched  on,  leaving  his  com- 
rades and  other  bystanders  astonished  at  his  folly.  The  soldiers 
made  a  hasty  search  for  the  scattered  pearls  and  recovered 
thirty  of  them.  When  they  beheld  their  great  size  and  beauty, 
none  of  them  being  bored  or  discolored,  they  lamented  that  so 
many  of  them  had  been  lost ;  for  the  whole  would  have  sold 
in  Spain  for  more  than  6,000  ducats.  This  egregious  folly 
gave  rise  to  a  common  proverb  in  the  army,  '  There  are  no 
pearls  for  Juan  Terron.'  The  poor  fellow  himself  became  an 
object  of  constant  jest  and  ridicule,  until  at  last,  made  sensible 
of  his  absurd  conduct,  he  implored  them  never  to  banter  him 
further  on  the  subject." 

Fontaneda  states  that  at  the  place  where  Lucas  Vasquez 
went,  seed-pearls  were  found  in  certain  conchs,  and  that  between 
Havalachi  and  Olagale  is  a  river  called  by  the  Indians  Guasaca- 
esqui,  which  means  in  the  Spanish  language  Rio  de  Canas 
(river  of  canes),  which  is  an  arm  of  the  sea,  and  along  the  adja- 
cent coast,  pearls  are  procured  from  certain  oysters  and  conchs. 
These  are  carried  to  all  the  provinces  and  villages  of  Florida, 
but  principally  to  Tocobaja,  the  nearest  town.  The  Indians  of 
the  town  of  Abalachi  asserted  that  the  Spaniards  hanged  their 
cacique  because  he  would  not  give  them  a  string  of  large  pearls 
which  he  wore  around  his  neck,  the  middle  pearl  of  which  was 
as  big  as  the  egg  of  a  turtle-dove.  Ribault  frequently  alludes 
to  the  possession  of  pearls  by  the  natives  of  Florida,  and  on 
one  occasion  saw  the  goodliest  man  of  a  company  of  Indians 
with  a  collar  of  gold  and  silver  about  his  neck  from  which  de- 
pended a  pearl  "  as  large  as  an  acorn  at  the  least." 

David  Ingram,  during  the  "  Land  Travels  "  of  himself  and 
others  in  the  year  1568-1569,  from  the  Rio  di  Minas  in  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Cape  Breton  in  Acadia,  made  the  following 
observation  :  "  There  is  in  some  of  those  Countreys  great  abun- 
dance of  Pearle,  for  in  every  cottage  he  founde  Pearle,  in  some 
howse  a  quarte,  in  some  a  pottell,  in  some  a  pecke,  more  or  lesse, 

1  Conquest  of  Florida  under  Hernando  De  Soto,  by  Theodore  Irving  (London,  1835),  Vol.  2, 
p.  7. 

s  The  Whole  and  True  Discovery  of  Terra  Florida,  by  Thomas  Hackett  (London,  1563). 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  247 

where  he  did  see  some  as  great  as  an  acorn,  and  Richard 
Browne,  one  of  his  companions,  found  one  of  these  great  pearls 
in  one  of  their  canoes,  or  Boates,  wch  Pearle  gaue  to  Mouns 
Champaine,  whoe  toke  them  aboarde  his  Shippe,  and  brought 
them  to  Newhaven  in  ffrufice." 

The  English  were  quick  to  note  the  presence  of  pearls  in 
this  country,  and  it  is  interesting  to  find  that,  centuries  before, 
Suetonius  states  that  Caesar  undertook  his  British  expedition 
for  the  sake  of  finding  pearls,  and  Pliny  and  Tacitus  report  his 
bringing  home  a  buckler  made  of  British  pearls,  which  he  dedi- 
cated to  Venus  Genetrix'  and  hung  up  in  her  temple.  An  ac- 
count of  the  pearl  fisheries  in  Ireland  was  published,  stating 
that  oysters  were  found  set  up  in  the  sands  of  the  river-beds, 
with  the  open  side  from  the  torrent.  About  one  in  one  hun- 
dred would  contain  a  pearl,  and  one  pearl  in  one  hundred  would 
be  tolerably  clear.  Between  the  years  1761  and  1764  the  river 
Conway  in  Scotland  supplied  the  London  market  with  pearls 
to  the  value  of  ,£10,000  sterling,  and  fine  Scotch  pearls  are  still 
sold  in  London.  The  rivers  of  Cumberland,  the  Conway  in 
Wales  and  the  Tay  in  Scotland,  have  yielded  pearls  that  were 
noted  for  their  beauty  in  time  past. 

Father  Louis  Hennepin  assures  us  that  the  Indians  along 
the  Mississippi  wore  bracelets  and  ear-rings  of  fine  pearls,  which 
they  spoilt,  having  nothing  to  bore  them  with  but  fire.  He 
adds  :  "  They  gave  us  to  understand  that  they  received  them  in 
exchange  for  their  calumets  from  nations  inhabiting  the  coast  of 
the  great  lake  to  the  southward,  which  I  take  to  be  the  Gulph 
of  Florida.'" 

A  member  of  the  expedition  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  col- 
lected from  the  natives  of  Virginia  5,000  pearls,  "  of  which  num- 
ber he  chose  so  many  as  made  a  fayre  chaine,  which  for  their 
likenesse  and  uniformity  in  roundnesse,  orientnesse  and 
pidenesse  of  many  excellent  colors,  with  equalitie  in  greatness, 
were  very  fayre  and  rare.'" 

1  Documents  connected  with  the  History  of  South  Carolina,  edited  by  Plowden  Charles  Jennett 
Weston  (London,  1856),  p.  8. 

*  Transactions  of  the  Philosophic  Society  for  1693. 

3  New  Discovery,  etc.  (London,  1698),  p.  177. 

4  A  Briefe  and  True  Report  of  the  New  Found  Land  of  Virginia  (Frankfort  on  the  Main, 
1590),  p.  II. 


248  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

In  the  plates  illustrative  of  the  "  Admiranda  Narratio  "  and 
the  "  Brevis  Narratio,"  the  natives  both  of  Virginia  and  Florida 
are  represented  in  the  possession  of  numerous  strings  of  pearls 
of  large  size;  and  in  his  description  of  the  "treasure  of  riches" 
of  the  Virginia  Indians,  Robert  Bevery  says  :  "  They  likewise 
have  some  pearls  amongst  them,  and  formerly  had  many  more, 
but  where  they  got  them  is  uncertain,  except  they  found  them  in 
the  oyster  banks  which  are  frequent  in  this  country." : 

Wilson  asserts  that  he  saw  pearls  "  bigger  than  Rouncival 
pease,"  and  perfectly  round,  taken  from  oysters  found  on  the 
Carolina  coast.3 

The  existence  of  shell-heaps  may  also  be  traced  to  the 
making  of  wampum  and  of  shell  beads  in  general,  which  formed 
a  trade  among  the  tribes  inhabiting  the  sea  coast.  This  labor 
required  much  time,  and  promised  success  only  to  those  who, 
by  long  practise,  had  attained  skill  in  the  operation.  The 
supposition  gains  some  ground  by  an  observation  of  Roger 
Williams,  who  states  that  "  most  on  the  Sea  side  make  Money 
and  Store  up  shells  in  Summer  against  Winter  whereof  to  make 
their  money."  He  further  observes:  "They  have  some  who 
follow  onely  making  Bowes,  some  Arrowes,  some  Dishes  (and 
the  women  make  all  their  Earthen  vessels),  some  follow  fish- 
ing, some  hunting."' 

Kjoekkenmoeddings  on  the  St.  John's  River,  Florida,  con- 
sisting of  river  shells,  were  examined  and  described  by  Prof. 
Jefferies  Wyman.  He  saw  similar  accumulations  on  the  banks 
of  the  Concord  River,  in  Massachusetts,  and  was  informed  by 
eye-witnesses  that  they  are  numerous  in  California.4 

Charles  Rau  5  says  :  "  The  term  '  wampum'  is  often  applied 
to  shell-beads  in  general,  but  should  be  confined,  I  think,  to  a 
certain  class  of  cylindrical  beads,  usually  £•  of  an  inch 
long  and  drilled  lengthwise,  which  were  chiefly  manufactured 

1  History  of  the  Present  State  of  Virginia  (London,  1705),  Book  3,  p.  59. 

5  An  Account  of  the  Province  of  Carolina  (London,  1682),  p.  12. 

3  A  Key  into  the  Language  of  America,  reprinted  from  the  London  edition  of  1643  (Provi- 
dence, 1827),  p.  1331. 

4  Cf.     Fresh-Water  Shell-Heaps  of  the  St.  John's  River,  East  Florida  (Salem,  Mass.,  1868), 
p.  6. 

6  'Ancient  Aboriginal  Trade  in  North  America,  in  the  Report  of  Smithsonian  Institution  for 
1872,  p.  32  of  Mr.  Rau's  reprint. 


UNITED    STATES,   CANADA    AND    MEXICO  249 

from  the  shells  of  the  common  hard-shell  clam  (Venus 
mercenaria).  This  bivalve  occurring,  as  every  one  knows,  in 
great  abundance  on  the  North  American  coasts,  formed  an 
important  article  of  food  of  the  Indians  living  near  the  sea,  a 
fact  demonstrated  by  the  enormous  quantity  of  cast-away  clam- 
shells, which  form  a  considerable  part  of  North  American 
Kjoekkenmoeddings  (as  these  heaps  are  called).  The  natives 
used  to  string  the  mollusks  and  to  dry  them  for  consumption 
during  the  winter.  The  blue  or  violet  portions  of  the  clam- 
shells furnished  the  material  for  the  dark  wampum,  which  was 
held  in  much  higher  estimation  than  that  made  of  the  white 
part  of  the  shell  or  of  the  spires  of  certain  univalves.  Even  at 
the  present  time,  places  are  pointed  out  on  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board, for  example  on  that  of  Long  Island,  where  the  Indians 
manufactured  wampum,  and  such  localities  may  be  recognized 
by  the  accumulations  of  clam-shells  from  which  the  blue  por- 
tions are  broken  off." 

Wampum  beads  formed  a  favorite  material  for  the  manu- 
facture of  necklaces,  bracelets,  and  other  articles  of  ornament, 
and  they  constituted  the  strings  and  belts  of  wampum  which 
played  such  a  conspicuous  part  in  Indian  history.  Loskiel 
says  on  this  point  :  "  Soon  after  their  arrival  in  America,  the 
Europeans  began  to  manufacture  wampum  from  shells,  very 
neatly  and  in  abundance,  exchanging  it  to  the  Indians  for  other 
commodities,  thus  carrying  on  a  very  profitable  trade.  The 
Indians  now  abandoned  their  wooden  belts  and  strings  and  sub- 
stituted those  of  shells.  The  latter,  of  course,  gradually 
declined  in  value,  but,  nevertheless,  were  and  still  are  much 
prized."1 

According  to  Albert  J.  Pickett,  the  oyster  alluded  to  by 
Garcilasso  was  identical  with  the  mussel  so  common  in  all  the 
rivers  of  Alabama.  "  Heaps  of  mussel  shells,"  he  says,  "  are 
now  to  be  seen  on  our  river  banks  wherever  Indians  used  to 
live.  They  were  much  used  by  the  ancient  Indians  for  some 
purpose,  and  old  warriors  have  informed  me  that  their  ancestors 
once  used  the  shells  to  temper  the  clay  with  which  they  made 
their  vessels.  But  as  thousands  of  the  shells  lie  banked  up, 

1  Mission  der  evangelischen  Brtider  unter  den  Indianern  in  Nordamerika  (Barby,  1789),  p.  34. 


250  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

some  deep  in  the  ground,  we  may  also  suppose  that  the  Indians 
in  De  Soto's  time,  everywhere  in  Alabama,  obtained  pearls  from 
them.  There  can  be  no  doubt  about  the  quantity  of  pearls 
found  in  this  State  and  Georgia  in  1540,  but  they  were  of  a 
coarser  and  more  valueless  kind  than  the  Spaniards  supposed. 
The  Indians  used  to  perforate  them  with  a  heated  copper  spindle 
and  string  them  around  their  necks  and  arms  like  beads."1 

Sufficient  historical  evidence  has  been  given  to  show  that 
pearls  were  in  general  use  among  the  southern  Indians;  that 
the  choicest  of  them  were  the  prized  ornaments  of  the  promi- 
nent personages  of  the  tribes  ;  that  the  fluviatile  mussels  were 
collected  and  opened  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  them ;  that 
the  marine  shells  of  the  Atlantic,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the 
Pacific,  yielded  generous  and  beautiful  tribute  to  the  labor,  skill, 
and  taste  of  numerous  and  well-trained  pearl  divers ;  and  that 
these  pearls  were  found,  not  only  in  the  possession  of  the 
living,  but  also  in  large  quantities  in  the  graves  of  chieftains 
and  the  sepulchers  of  the  undistinguished  dead.  A  present  of 
pearls  from  the  caciques  to  the  conquerors  was  an  earnest 
token  of  consideration  and  the  most  acceptable  pledge  of 
friendship  that  he  could  offer. 

Doubtless,  however,  the  accounts  that  have  reached  us 
from  the  pens  of  the  historians  of  these  expeditions  and  voy- 
ages are  somewhat  extravagant  with  regard  to  the  quality  and 
quantity  and  size  of  the  pearls  seen  in  the  possession  of  the 
natives.  From  these  interviews  between  the  Europeans  and  the 
natives,  it  appears  that  the  Indians  obtained  their  supplies  of 
pearls  both  from  marine  shells  and  from  fresh-water  mussels. 
Some  of  the  oysters  in  Georgia  and  Florida  are  margaritiferous 
and  many  of  them  contain  seed-pearls.  Specimens  symmetrical 
in  shape,  as  large  as  pepper-corns,  and  not  wanting  in  beauty, 
have  been  observed  by  Charles  C.Jones,  who  says:  "Some 
were  quite  big  enough  to  have  been  perforated  in  the  rude 
fashion  practised  by  the  Indians.  They  were,  however,  of  a 
milky  color  and  opaque.  Neither  in  size  nor  quality  did  they 
answer  the  description  spoken  of  in  the  Spanish  narratives." 

1  History  of  Alabama  (Charlestown,  1851),  Vol.  I,  p.  12. 

5  Antiquities  of  the  Southern  Indians  (New  York,  1873),  p.  481. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  251 

Perforated  pearls  were  found  by  Dr.  Edwin  H.  Davis*  on  the 
hearths  of  five  distinct  groups  of  mounds  in  Ohio,  and  sometimes 
in  such  abundance  that  they  could  be  gathered  by  the  hundred. 
They  were*  generally  of  irregular  form,  mostly  pear-shaped, 
though  perfectly  round  ones  were  also  found  among  them.  The 
smaller  specimens  measured  about  i  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  but 
the  largest  had  a  diameter  of  f  of  an  inch. 

According  to  this  same  authority,  pearl-bearing  shells  occur 
in  the  rivers  of  the  region  whose  antiquities  are  described,  but 
not  in  such  abundance  that  they  could  have  furnished  the 
amount  discovered  in  the  tumuli,  and  the  pearls  of  these  fluvia- 
tile  shells,  moreover,  are  said  to  be  far  inferior  in  size  to  those 
recovered  from  the  altars.  The  latter,  it  was  erroneously 
thought,  were  derived  from  the  Atlantic  coast  and  from  that 
of  the  Mexican  Gulf. 

The  Indians  of  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  and  the 
other  Southern  States,  subsisted  largely  on  oysters,  clams,  and 
conchs,  as  shown  by  the  numerous  refuse  piles  and  shell  heaps 
that  abound  upon  the  salt-water  creeks.  It  is  not  matter  of 
surprise  that  the  Indians,  as  they  opened  these  shells,  should 
have  carefully  watched  for  pearls,  and  from  the  vast  numbers 
examined,  should  have  accumulated  a  store.  If  the  shores  of 
Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida  did  not  afford  the  larger  and 
more  highly-prized  pearls,  it  is  not  improbable  that  pearls  from 
the  islands  and  lower  portions  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  even 
from  the  Pacific  Ocean,  may  have  found  their  way  into  the  heart 
of  Georgia  and  Florida  and  into  more  northern  localities,  to  be 
there  bartered  away  for  skins  and  other  articles.  The  replies 
of  Indians  to  Father  Hennepin  and  others,  and  the  presence 
in  remote  localities  of  beads,  ornaments,  and  drinking-cups  made 
of  marine  shells  and  conchs,  still  peculiar  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
confirm  the  truthfulness  of  this  suggestion." 

But  marine  shells  are  not  the  only  source  whence  the 
southern  Indians  derived  their  pearls.  The  fluviatile  mussels 
contributed  perhaps  more  freely  than  other  shells  to  the  treas- 

1  See  Ancient  Monuments  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  by  Ephraim  G.  Squier  and  Edwin  H. 
Davis  (Washington,  1848),  p.  232. 

8  Ancient  Aboriginal  Trade  in  North  America,  by  Charles  Rau.  Report  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  for  1872  (Washington,  1873). 


252  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

ures  of  these  early  people.  At  various  points  along  the 
southern  rivers,  relic  beds  are  found,  composed  of  the  fresh- 
water shells  native  to  the  streams.  The  inland  lakes  of  Florida 
show  similar  evidences  of  occupancy  of  their  shores  by  aborig- 
ines, and  even  some  ponds  in  middle  Georgia  and  Alabama 
exhibit  along  their  banks  signs  of  ancient  refuse  piles  where 
lacustrine  shells  abound.  These  heaps  are  common  in  the 
South,  and  several  of  them  on  the  banks  of  the  Savannah  River, 
above  Augusta,  are  fully  described  by  Charles  C.  Jones.1  He 
says:  "In  these  relic  beds  no  two  parts  of  the  same  shell  are, 
as  a  general  rule,  found  in  juxtaposition.  The  hinge  is  broken, 
and  the  valves  of  the  shell,  after  having  been  artificially  torn 
asunder,  seem  to  have  been  carelessly  cast  aside  and  allowed  to 
accumulate." 

Thus,  in  addition  to  the  historical  evidence  given,  physical 
proof  is  adduced  of  the  pearl  fisheries  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  of 
the  South.  In  order  to  ascertain  the  precise  varieties  of  shells 
from  which  the  southern  Indians  obtained  their  pearls,  Mr. 
Jones  invited  an  expression  of  opinion  from  the  following 
scientists,  whose  pursuits  rendered  them  familiar  with  the 
conchology  of  the  United  States.  They  throw  considerable 
light  upon  this  inquiry. 

Dr.  William  Stimpson,  of  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences, 
considered  the  statements  of  the  early  Spanish  historians  with 
regard  to  the  size  of  the  pearls  (as  large  as  filberts)  exagger- 
ated. He  says:  "The  pearls  of  the  Aviculae,  our  only  marga- 
ritiferous  marine  genus,  are  very  small,  and  those  of  the  oyster 
valueless.  The  Indians  must  have  obtained  their  pearls  from 
the  fresh-water  bivalves  (Unio  and  Anodon)  which  abound  in 
the  rivers  of  Georgia,  etc.  These  are  usually  small,  but  in  very 
rare  instances  examples  have  occurred  reaching  in  diameter  i  of 
an  inch." 

"  Most  of  the  fresh-water  mussels,"  writes  Prof.  Joseph 
Le  Conte,  "  contain  small  pearls  now  and  then.  By  far  the  best 
and  largest  number  I  have  seen  were  taken  from  the  Anodon 
gibbosa  (Lea),  a  large  and  beautiful  shell  abundant  in  the 

1  Antiquities  of  the  Southern  Indians  (New  York,  1873),  p.  483;  also  Monumental  Remains 
of  Georgia  (Savannah,  1861),  p.  14. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  253 

swamps  of  Liberty  County,  Ga.,  at  least  in  Bulltown  and  Ala- 
tamaha  Swamps.  Some  of  the  pearls  taken  from  this  species 
are  as  large  as  swan-shot.  Of  the  salt-water  shells,  I  know  not 
if  any  produce  pearls  except  the  oyster  (Ostrea  Virginica). 
Pearls  of  small  size  are  sometimes  found  in  them." 

Prof.  William  S.  Jones,  of  the  University  of  Georgia,  says 
that  he  has  seen  small  pearls  in  many  of  the  Unios  found  in 
Southern  Georgia. 

Prof.  Jefferies  Wyman,  after  a  careful  and  extensive  series 
of  excavations  in  the  shell  heaps  of  Florida,  failed  to  find  a 
single  pearl.  "  It  is  hardly  probable,"  he  remarks,  "  that  the 
Spaniards  could  have  been  mistaken  as  to  the  fact  of  the  orna- 
ments of  the  Indians  being  pearls,  but  in  view  of  their  frequent 
exaggerations,  I  am  almost  compelled  to  the  belief  that  there 
was  some  mistake ;  and  possibly  they  may  not  have  distin- 
guished between  the  pearls  and  the  shell  beads,  some  of  which 
would  correspond  with  the  size  and  shape  of  the  pearls  men- 
tioned by  the  Spaniards." 

Prof.  Joseph  Jones,  whose  investigations  throw  much  valu- 
able light  upon  the  contents  of  the  ancient  tumuli  of  Tennessee, 
says :  "  I  do  not  remember  finding  a  genuine  pearl  in  the  many 
mounds  which  I  have  opened  in  the  valleys  of  the  Tennessee, 
the  Cumberland,  the  Harpeth,  and  elsewhere.  Many  of  the 
pearls  described  by  the  Spaniards  were  probably  little  else  than 
polished  beads  cut  out  of  large  sea-shells  and  from  the  thicker 
portions  of  fresh-water  mussels,  and  prepared  so  as  to  resemble 
pearls.  I  have  examined  thousands  of  these,  and  they  all  pre- 
sent a  laminated  structure,  as  if  carved  out  of  thick  shells  and 
sea  conchs." 

Charles  M.  Wheatley  was  confident  that  there  were 
"splendid  pearls  in  southern  Unios."  He  instances  the  Unio 
Blandingianus  and  the  large  old  Unio  Buddianus  (Buckleyi) 
from  Lakes  George  and  Monroe  in  Florida,  as  pearl  bearing. 
"In  Georgia,"  he  continues,  "the  large,  thick  shells  of  the 
Chattahoochee,  such  as  the  Unio  Elliottii,  would  be  the  most 
likely  to  contain  fine  ones ;  but  there  is  no  positive  rule,  as 
an  injured  shell  of  any  species  will  doubtless  afford  some, 
irregular  in  most  cases  and  of  no  value,  but  in  some  instances 


254  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

worth  from  $50  to  $100."  He  also  mentions  that  he  has  re- 
ceived from  the  Tennessee  River,  in  Alabama,  fine  round  pearls 
both  white  and  rose  colored. 

John  G.  Anthony  writes:  "I  never  have  collected  in 
Florida  and  but  little  in  Georgia,  but  what  I  can  say  about 
Ohio  I  presume  will  hold  good  in  other  States,  that  the  Unios 
of  various  species  furnish  them  tolerably  abundantly  there. 
They  are  not  confined  to  any  one  particular  species,  but  are 
generally  found  in  the  thicker  and  more  ponderous  shells, 
though  even  the  thinner  shells  often  have  small  ones,  especially 
such  as  are  found  in  canals,  ponds,  and  places  which  seem  to  be 
not  so  healthy  for  the  animal  on  account  of  stagnant  water.  I 
recollect  taking  over  twenty  small  ones  out  of  the  mantle  of 
one  specimen  of  Unio  fragilis,  U.  gracilis  (Barnes),  which  I  found 
in  the  Miami  Canal ;  and  almost  every  old  shell  there  had  more 
or  fewer  pearls  in  it.  U.  torsus  (Raf.),  U.  orbiculatus  (Hil- 
dreth),  U.  costalus  (Raf.),  and  U.  undulatus  (Barnes),  also  pro- 
duce them  in  Ohio.  I  have  seen  about  half  a  pint  of  beautiful 
pearls,  regularly  formed  and  pea  size,  which  were  taken  in  one 
season  and  in  one  neighborhood  ;  so  you  may  judge  of  their  fre- 
quency, though,  as  I  hinted  before,  it  is  probable  that  a  kind  of 
disease  caused  by  impure  water  may  govern  their  production 
somewhat.  No  doubt  the  southern  waters  are  given  to  making 
pearls,  as  well  as  Ohio  streams.  I  have  seen  protuberances  of 
the  pearl  character  in  southern  shells,  and  have  no  doubt  that 
one  collecting  them  with  the  animal  in  them  would  find  pearls. 
I  particularly  recollect  Unio  globulus  (Say)  and  U.  Mortoni 
(Conrad),  both  Louisiana  species,  as  having  these  protuberances 
in  their  nacreous  matter.  Georgia  Unios  are  generally  too  thin 
to  produce  any  excess  of  pearly  matter  and  form  pearls,  but 
the  Louisiana  shells  from  Bayou  Techa,  which  I  have  seen, 
have  a  remarkably  pearly  nacre,  quite  thick,  reminding  one  very 
much  of  the  marine  shell  Trigonia,  as  to  nacre.  No  doubt  the 
bayous,  which  have  in  general  no  current  at  all,  would  make 
first-rate  places  for  pearl  breeding." 

Dr.  Charles  Rau l  writes:  "  I  learned  from  Dr.  Samuel  G. 

1  Ancient  Aboriginal  Trade  in  North  America,  Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  for  1872, 
p.  38  of  the  author's  reprint. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  255 

Bristow,  who  was  surgeon  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland 
during  the  Civil  War,  that  mussels  of  the  Tennessee  River 
were  occasionally  eaten  '  as  a  change '  by  the  soldiers  of  that 
corps,  and  pronounced  no  bad  article  of  diet.  Shells  of  the 
Unio  are  sometimes  found  in  Indian  graves,  where  they  had 
been  deposited  with  the  dead,  to  serve  as  food  during  the  jour- 
ney to  the  land  of  spirits." 

Dr.  Brinton  saw  on  the  Tennessee  River  and  its  tributaries 
numerous  shell  heaps  consisting  almost  exclusively  of  the  Unio 
Virginianus  (Lamarck).  In  every  instance  he  found  shell 
heaps  close  to  the  water-courses,  on  the  rich  alluvial  bottom 
lands.  He  says  :  "  The  mollusks  had  evidently  been  opened  by 
placing  them  on  a  fire.  The  Tennessee  mussel  is  margaritifer- 
ous,  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  it  was  from  this  species  that 
the  early  tribes  obtained  the  hoards  of  pearls  which  the  histo- 
rian of  De  Soto's  exploration  estimated  by  bushels,  and  which 
were  so  much  prized  as  ornaments." 

A  source  has  recently  been  pointed  out  whence  small  pearls, 
and  perhaps  some  fine  specimens,  could  have  been  obtained 
by  the  Indians  of  Florida,  and  in  considerable  quantities.  In 
the  Unios  of  some  of  the  fresh-water  lakes  of  that  State,  there 
were  found  not  less  than  3,000  pearls,  most  of  them  small, 
but  many  large  enough  to  be  perforated  and  worn  as  beads. 
From  one  Unio  there  were  taken  eighty-four  seed-pearls ;  from 
another  fifty,  from  a  third  twenty,  and  from  several  ten  or 
twelve  each.  The  examinations  were  chiefly  confined  to  Lake 
Griffin  and  its  vicinity.  It  is  said  that  upon  one  of  the  isles  in 
Lake  Okeechobee  are  the  remains  of  an  old  pearl  fishery,  and  it 
is  proposed  to  open  the  shells  of  this  lake,  which  are  large,  in 
hopes  of  finding  pearls  of  superior  size  and  quality. 

The  use  of  the  pearl  as  an  ornament  by  the  southern  Indi- 
ans, and  the  quantities  of  shells  opened  by  them  in  various 
localities,  make  it  seem  strange  that  it  is  not  more  frequently 
met  with  in  the  relic-beds  and  sepulchral  tumuli  of  that  re- 
gion ;  but  after  exploring  many  shell  and  earth  mounds,  Col. 
Charles  C.  Jones  failed,  except  in  a  few  instances,  to  find  pearls.8 

1  See  Artificial  Shell  Deposits  in  the  United  States,  in  the  Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution 
for  1866,  p.  357. 

2  Antiquities  of  Southern  Indians,  p.  486. 


256  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

A  few  were  obtained  in  an  extensive  relic  bed  on  the  Savannah 
River,  above  Augusta,  the  largest  being  T4¥  of  an  inch  in 
diameter,  and  all  of  them  blackened  by  fire.  Many  of  the 
smaller  mounds  on  the  coast  of  Georgia  do  not  contain  pearls, 
because  at  the  period  of  their  construction  the  custom  of  burn- 
ing the  dead  appears  to  have  prevailed  very  generally  ;  hence, 
it  may  be  that  the  pearls  were  either  immediately  consumed  or 
so  seriously  injured  as  to  crumble  out  of  sight. 

This  absence  of  pearls  tends  somewhat  to  confirm  the 
opinion  that  beads  and  ornaments  made  from  the  thicker  por- 
tions of  shells  that  were  carved,  perforated,  and  brilliant  with 
their  primal  covering,  were  regarded  by  the  imaginative  Span- 
iards as  pearls.  More  minute  investigation,  however,  will  doubt- 
less reveal  the  existence  of  pearls  in  localities  where  the  pearl- 
bearing  shells  were  collected.  Perforated  pearls  have  been 
found  in  an  ancient  burying-ground  located  near  the  bank  of  the 
Ogeeche  River,  in  Bryan  County,  Ga.;  and  many  years  ago, 
after  a  heavy  freshet  on  the  Oconee  River,  which  laid  bare 
many  Indian  graves  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  large  mounds  on 
Poullain's  plantation,  fully  a  hundred  pearls  of  considerable  size 
were  gathered. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  what  were  regarded  as  pearls 
by  the  early  Spanish  voyagers  were  really  such,  although  it  is 
well  known  that  shell-beads  have  been  found  in  mounds  in  con- 
nection with  pearls  ;  but  the  numbers  found  in  Ohio,  and  which 
have  been  mentioned  by  Prof.  Frederick  W.  Putnam  and  by 
others,  leave  no  room  for  doubt  in  this  matter.  That  the  In- 
dians of  the  South  also  had  these  pearls,  both  drilled  and 
undrilled,  is  beyond  question.  Notwithstanding  the  intimacy 
existing  between  remote  Indian  tribes,  as  shown  by  many 
authorities,  and  the  fact  that  Pacific  coast  shells  have  been 
carried  to  Arizona,  and  that  clam  shells  have  been  found  in 
Zuni  cities  by  Lieut.  Frank  H.  Gushing,  it  is  likely  that  these 
pearls  came,  not  from  the  pearl  oyster  of  the  Pacific  coast, 
but  from  the  marine  shells  of  the  Atlantic  coast  and  the 
fresh-water  shells  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  continent.  It  is 
more  than  probable  that  the  Indians  opened  the  shell  to  secure 
the  animal,  which  they  valued  as  an  article  of  food  ;  that  the 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


257 


shells  of  some  varieties,  such  as  the  common  clam  and  the 
conch,  were  made  into  wampum ;  and  that  the  pearls  found 
in  the  shells  were  used  as  ornaments,  whether  lusterless  pearls 
from  the  common  oyster  or  lustrous  ones  from  the  Unio.  The 
great  shell-heaps  along  our  coasts  bear  evidence  that  many 
pearls  must  have  been  found,  and  that,  though  the  Spaniards 
who  invaded  the  country  may  indeed  have  obtained  great  hoards 
of  pearls,  all  of  them,  perhaps,  were  not  of  great  value. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


In  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 


ALTHOUGH  Canada  can  scarcely  be  called  a  gem-pro- 
ducing country,  and  no  mining  for  precious  stones 
is  carried  on  there,  still  it  furnishes  some  stones 
that  are  of  more  than  passing  interest  to  the  mineral- 
ogist and  of  some  little  value  in  jewelry  and  the  arts.  A  num- 
ber of  gem  minerals,  not  of  gem  quality,  are  here  obtained  of 
such  wonderful  size  and  perfection  that  they  have  been  given 
places  in  the  cabinets  of  the  world,  and  are  even  more  prized 
as  specimens  than  cut  stones  from  other  localities.  Their  min- 
eralogical  value  gives  them  commercial  importance.  For  in- 
stance, the  zircon  crystals,  occurring  as  individuals  up  to  15 
pounds  in  weight,  many  fine  ones  weighing  nearly  a  pound,  and 
the  beautiful  twin  crystals  of  the  same  mineral ;  the  dark  brown 
titanite  in  simple  and  twinned  crystals  up  to  70  pounds  each  ;  the 
quantities  of  amethyst  from  Lake  Superior  ;  the  ouvarovite  or 
green  chrome-garnet  from  Orford,  Ont.  ;  and  the  white  garnet 
crystals  from  near  Wakefield,  Que.,  are  among  the  most  notable 
Canadian  minerals.  Not  the  least  wonderful  are  the  apatite 
crystals  (one  weighing  over  500  pounds),  which  are  found  of 
such  size  and  beauty  that  the  rich  green  variety  might  be 
worked  into  ornaments  similar  to  those  made  from  fluorite. 

Corundum,  in  red  and  blue  crystals,  has  been  found  in  lime- 


2S8 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES  259 

stone  near  Burgess,  Ont.,  also  disseminated  through  a  rock  made 
up  of  feldspar,  quartz,  calcite,  and  titanite,  in  contact  with  the 
crystalline  limestone.  These  grains  vary  from  light  rose-red  to 
sapphire-blue  color,  and  are  of  no  gem  value,  nor  in  quantity  suf- 
ficient for  commercial  use. 

In  the  seigniory  of  Daillebout,  Que.,  translucent  octahedrons 
of  blue  spinel  are  found  in  micaceous  limestone  ;  and  from  Wake- 
field,  Que.,  come  pink  and  dark-bluish  spinels  in  rounded  cubic 
crystals  and  opaque  light-blue  cubes  nearly  an  inch  in  diameter. 
Very  interesting  black  spinels  in  brilliant  crystals,  i  to  2  inches 
in  diameter,  occur  in  Burgess  and  Bathurst  Townships,  Ont, 
where  a  vein  of  them  has  been  traced  for  a  mile  in  one  direction. 
They  are  also  associated  with  fluorite  in  the  township  of  Ross, 
Ont.  None  of  these  possess  gem  value. 

At  the  World's  Fair  held  in  London,  1862,  there  was  exhib- 
ited two  so  called  topazes,  from  Cape  Breton,  N.  S.,  one  in  the 
rough,  and  the  other,  which  had  been  cut  at  Pictou,  N.  S.,  |  an 
inch  in  length  and  of  a  yellow  color, — the  variety  of  this 
mineral  peculiar  to  Brazil.  This  fact  leads  to  the  inference 
that  these  stones  may  have  been  citrine  or  artificially  decolorized 
smoky  quartz,  and  not  the  true  mineralogical  topaz. 

Little  if  any  beryl  of  value  for  gems  has  been  discovered  in 
Canada.  Pale-green,  well-defined  crystals  have  been  reported 
by  Dr.  Bigsby  at  Rainy  Lake,  230  miles  west  of  Lake  Super- 
ior ;  and  in  Berthier  and  Saguenay  Counties,  Que.,  crystals 
over  an  inch  in  diameter  have  been  found. 

The  zircons  of  Ontario,  especially  those  from  Lake  Clear, 
and  Sebastopol  and  Brudenell  Townships,  in  Renfrew  County, 
are  the  most  remarkable  known  for  beauty,  size,  perfection,  and 
richness  of  color.  An  occasional  crystal  top  or  a  small  fragment 
will  afford  a  gem  of  the  hyacinth  variety,  but  they  rarely  exceed 
a  carat  in  weight.  Some  of  these  individual  crystals  weigh 
about  15  pounds,  and  are  more  than  4  inches  in  diameter.  One 
was  observed  3  inches  in  diameter  and  nearly  a  foot  in  length. 
In  Brudenell  Township,  twenty-five  miles  west  of  Eganville,  Ont., 
fine  crystals  are  obtained.  The  twin  zircons  from  Lake  Clear 
are  beautiful  and  interesting,  one  of  them  measuring  nearly  4 
inches  in  length ;  they  are  of  no  gem  value,  but  many 


26O  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

thousand  dollars'  worth  have  been  sold  as  specimens.  Short's 
Claim,  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Clear,  yields  the 
choicest  twins.  Perhaps  the  finest  twin  crystals  ever  found, 
and  one  of  the  best  single  crystals,  are  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum Collection ;  while  the  best  series  of  this  mineral  is  probably 
that  in  the  collection  of  Clarence  S.  Bement,  of  Philadelphia. 
An  enormous  single  crystal  is  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences  at  Philadelphia.  In  Burgess  and  adjoining 
townships  fine  crystals  occur,  not  so  large  as  those  from  Renfrew 
County,  but  of  exquisite  polish  and  highly  modified  forms;  in 
Templeton  and  near  Grenville,  Que.,  especially  four  miles  north, 
are  found  smaller  crystals,  often  cherry-red  and  transparent,  that 
would  yield  gems ;  and  many  of  the  crystals  are  modified  and 
associated  with  wollastonite  and  graphite. 

Tourmaline  in  green  crystals  is  found  in  Chatham  Town- 
ship, Que.,  and  the  green  and  red  varieties  in  Villeneuve  Town- 
ship, Que.  Brown  tourmalines  are  frequently  met  with  in  the 
Laurentian  limestone.  Fine  crystals,  rich  yellowish  or  translu- 
cent brown  in  color,  often  occur  imbedded  in  a  flesh-red 
limestone  in  Ross,  Ont.,  Calumet  Falls,  Clarendon,  and 
Hunterstown,  Que.  These  furnish  an  occasional  gem.  Slender 
crystals  in  white  quartz  occur  at  Fitzroy,  Island  Portage,  and 
Lac  des  Chats,  and  of  inferior  color  at  McGregor's  Quarry  in 
Lachute,  Ont.  Black  tourmaline  of  no  gem  value  is  found  in  a 
number  of  localities,  principally  at  Yeo's  Island,  near  the  Upper 
end  of  Tar  Island,  one  of  the  Thousand  Islands.  It  occurs  in 
large  crystals  at  Murray  Bay,  Cape  Tourmente,  Que.,  and  in  white 
quartz  near  Bathurst,  Ont. ;  in  the  granitic  veins  in  Ross,  Ont.  ; 
on  Roche  Fendue  Channel,  on  Camping  Place  Bay,  on  Charles- 
ton Lake  in  Lansdowne,  in  Blythfield,  on  the  Madawaska,  and 
at  North  Elmsley  and  Lachute,  Ont.  ;  and  on  the  west  side  of 
the  North  River  at  St.  Jerome,  St.  Felix,  and  Calumet 
Falls,  Que.  The  velvet-black,  fibrous  tourmaline  found  at 
Madoc  and  Elzevir,  Ont.,  gives  a  blue  powder  and  is  evidently 
an  indicolite,  like  the  variety  from  Paris,  Me. 

Almandite  garnets  occur  plentifully  in  crystals  in  mica  schist 
along  the  Stickeen  River  in  British  Columbia.  Owing  to  their  per- 
fect form  and  polish,  the  faces  of  these  crystals  are  the  most  beau- 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  26 1 

tiful  in  the  world.  Although  they  are  not  transparent  enough  to 
be  of  value  to  cut  into  gems,  yet  if  obtained  in  sufficient  quantity, 
they  would  be  useful  for  watch  jewels.  Beds  of  nearly  pure  red 
garnet  rock,  from  5  to  25  feet  thick,  are  sometimes  met  with  in 
the  gneiss  at  St.  Jerome,  Que.,  and  in  quartzite  in  Rawdon  and 
Marmora  Townships,  Ont.,  and  at  Baie  St.  Paul,  Que.  Some 
small  pieces  would  afford  gems  of  little  value,  but  the  stone  is  of 
considerable  use  in  the  arts  as  a  grinding  material  and  for  sand- 
paper. The  large  red  garnet,  disseminated  through  a  white 
oligoclase  gneiss,  at  Lake  Simon,  would  not  afford  gems,  but  if 
polished  with  the  rock  would  afford  an  ornamental  stone.  An- 
dradite  garnet  is  found  on  Texada  Island,  B.  C.,  in  fair  crystals, 
but  not  suitable  for  jewelry.  Essonite,  cinnamon-colore_d  gar- 
net, is  found  in  small  crystals  in  Grenville,  Que.,  but  not  of  gem 
value,  and  in  fine  crystals,  associated  with  idocrase,  in  Wakefield, 
Que.  But  few  of  these  would  furnish  even  small  gems.  Gros- 
sularite,  white  lime-alumina  garnet,  is  found  in  Wakefieid  and  in 
Hull,  Que.,  in  large  quantity,  in  veins  lining  the  crystalline  lime- 
stone, and  associated  with  essonite,  idocrase,  and  pyroxene.  This 
is  the  most  remarkable  locality  for  this  mineral,  superb  crystals 
2  inches  across  having  been  found  there,  as  well  as  groups  of 
crystals  a  foot  across.  In  color  the  crystals  vary  from  colorless 
to  light  yellow  and  light  brown,  and  some  of  them  are  transpar- 
ent enough  to  afford  colorless  gems  of  from  i  to  2  carats  in 
weight.  Melanite,  black  garnet,  is  found  in  Marmora,  Ont,  but 
it  is  not  used  for  jewelry.  Ouvarovite,  or  green  chrome-garnet, 
found  in  Orford,  Ont.,  yields  the  most  beautiful  known  specimens 
of  this  rare  mineral.  The  crystals,  which  are  transparent  dode- 
cahedrons, rarely  over  £  inch  in  diameter,  and  of  the  deepest 
emerald-green  color,  are  found  lining  druses  in  cavities  of  crys- 
talline limestone,  often  on  the  chrome  pyroxene  and  associated 
with  millerite.  If  it  were  not  for  the  small  size  of  the  crystals, 
it  would  be  a  gem  of  the  highest  rank.  A  few  crystals  have 
been  found  in  Wakefield,  some  of  which  rival  in  size  any  that 
have  been  discovered,  the  largest  measuring  nearly  £  an  inch  in 
diameter.  They  are  of  a  fine  green  color,  but  opaque,  and  some- 
times have  a  yellow  center. 

Rock-crystal     is    found    in    many    localities    of     Canada, 


262  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

especially  in  veins  with  amethyst  in  the  Lake  Superior 
region,  but  not  of  sufficient  size  to  afford  crystal  balls  or  other 
art  objects.  The  small,  doubly  terminated  crystals  found  in  the 
limestone  of  the  Levis  and  Hudson  River  formations,  and  lo- 
cally called  "  Quebec  diamonds,"  are  sold  as  souvenirs  to  tourists. 
Fine  crystals  are  found  in  the  soil  in  Lacolle,  Que.,  and  beautiful 
limpid  crystals  in  the  cavities  of  the  calciferous  formations  in  many 
places.  Larger  crystals  have  been  found  with  smoky  quartz  near 
Paradise  Bay,  N.  S.,  also  in  the  geodes  on  agate  throughout  the 
entire  Bay  of  Fundy  district,  and  on  the  Musquash  River,  N.  B., 
at  Cape  Blomidon,  N.  S.  Milky  quartz  is  found  all  through 
Canada,  but  it  is  never  of  any  value  in  the  arts  except  for  por- 
celain. Rose  quartz  is  also  found  in  many  localities,  especially 
at  Shelburne,  N.  S.  It  has  little  value  in  the  arts,  but  has  been 
made  into  various  ornaments  and  charms.  Smoky  quartz  in  fine 
groups  occurs  in  the  same  veins  with  amethyst  on  both  Lake  Su- 
perior and  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  so  uneven  in  color,  however,  as  to 
afford  gems  of  little  value.  It  has  been  found  in  immense  crys- 
tals in  the  vicinity  of  Paradise  River,  also  near  Bridgetown  and 
Lawrencetown,  Annapolis  County,  N.  S.,  from  a  light  yellow 
color  to  the  dark,  smoky  "cairngorm."  Dr.  How  mentions 
a  crystal  13  inches  high  and  6  inches  in  diameter.  Single  crys- 
tals, weighing  100  pounds  each,  have  often  been  obtained  from  the 
decomposing  granite  and  have  been  piled  up  with  the  stones  from 
the  fields,  near  Paradise  River,  and  loose  in  the  soil.  It  occurs 
in  crystals  about  2  inches  in  length  at  Mill  Village,  Lunenburgh 
County,  N.  S.,  and  at  Margaret's  Bay,  Halifax  County,  N.  S. 
In  King's  College  cabinet  there  is  a  specimen  of  the  almost 
black  variety  known  as  "  Morion,"  with  crystals  £  an  inch  across. 
Amethyst  is  found  in  some  form  in  nearly  every  vein  cutting 
the  cherty  and  argillaceous  slates  around  Thunder  Bay,  on  the 
north  shore  of  Lake  Superior.  At  Amethyst  Harbor  this  min- 
eral constitutes  almost  the  entire  vein,  and  numerous  openings 
have  been  made  to  obtain  it  for  tourists  who  visit  the  spot. 
Thousands  of  dollars'  worth  are  annually  sold  here,  and  as  much 
more  is  sent  to  Niagara  Falls,  Pike's  Peak,  Hot  Springs,  and 
other  tourists'  resorts,  as  well  as  to  the  mineral  dealers.  Surfaces 
several  feet  across  are  often  covered  with  crystals  from  i  inch 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  263 

to  5  inches  long,  rich  in  color,  and  having  a  high  polish.  Some- 
times, when  large,  the  crystals  have  a  coating  of  a  rusty  brown 
color,  owing  to  the  oxidation  of  the  included  gothite.  This  is 
one  of  the  famous  occurrences  of  this  mineral,  regarded  as  nat- 
ural specimens,  but  the  purple  color  is  very  unevenly  distributed, 
and  as  the  crystals  are  not  transparent  like  those  from  Siberia, 
they  afford  very  few  gem- stones  of  value.  In  Nova  Scotia,  fine 
amethysts  occur  in  bands,  veins,  and  geodes  at  Partridge  Island, 
Cumberland  County,  surfaces  a  foot  square  being  covered  with 
splendid  purple  crystals  i  inch  across.  Dr.  Gesner  mentions 
a  geode  that  would  hold  about  two  gallons,  found  at  Cape  Sharp, 
nearly  opposite  Blomidon,  N.  S.  Another,  lining  walls  of  chal- 
cedony with  concentric  bandings,  and  weighing  40  pounds,  was 
found  at  Sandy  Cove,  Digby  County,  N.  S.  De  Monts  is  said 
to  have  taken  crystals  from  Partridge  Island  to  Henry  IV.  of 
France,  whom  they  greatly  pleased,  and  a  crystal  from  Blomidon 
was  among  the  French  crown  jewels  twenty  years  ago.  A  bushel 
of  crystals  was  obtained  by  Dr.  Webster,  of  Kentville,  N.  S.,  in 
digging  a  well.  Dr.  Gesner  also  states  that  he  had  seen  a  band 
of  amethyst  some  feet  in  length  and  perhaps  2  inches  thick, 
about  a  mile  east  of  Hall's  Harbor,  N.  S.  Other  localities  are 
the  south  side  of  Nichols  Mountain,  Cape  d'Or,  Mink  Cove,  Scott's 
Bay,  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  Little  Dipper  Harbor  and  Nerepis  in 
New  Brunwick,  and  elsewhere  along  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  The 
beautiful  masses  of  straight,  concentric,  and  irregular  banded 
amethyst  (banded  with  quartz  and  agates)  found  in  Nova  Scotia 
on  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  are  similar  to  a  variety  found  abroad,  and 
used  for  ornamental  purposes,  principally  for  clock-cases  and 
jewel-caskets.  The  material  is  slit  into  plates  so  thin  that  they 
are  often  strengthened  by  cementing  them  on  plates  of  glass,  and 
the  colors  are  enhanced  by  setting  the  plates  so  that  the  light 
can  pass  through.  Dr.  How  mentions  prase,  green  quartz, 
as  occurring  at  Kail's  Point,  N.  S.  A  beautiful  hyaline  quartz 
is  found  at  Scott's  Bay,  N.  S.  Sagenite  (fleche  d' amour,  or 
Venus'  hair-stone)  is  reported  by  Dr.  How  as  having  been 
found  at  Scott's  Bay,  N.  S. 

Agates   are   found   along   the   coast  of  Lake   Superior   in 
abundance  and  of  considerable  size  and  beauty.    The  finest  are 


264  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

derived  from  the  trap  of  Michipicoten  Island,  Ont.  They  occur 
on  St.  Ignace  and  Simpson's  Islands,  Ont,  on  the  former  only  as 
nodules  in  the  trap.  Both  chalcedony  and  agate  occur  as  veins 
filling  dislocations  and  cracks  which  penetrate  the  trap.  In  the 
Thunder  Bay  district  they  are  associated  with  amethysts,  occurring 
also  as  pebbles.  Although  these  agates  are  often  of  rich  color, 
and  are  beautifully  veined,  they  are  rarely  over  2  inches  across. 
Many  are  sold  to  tourists  for  ornaments,  and  a  greater  number 
could  probably  be  disposed  of  if  more  attention  were  given  to 
cutting  and  polishing  them.  As  natural  agates,  their  color  is  ex- 
ceptionally fine.  Nearly  all  the  large  agates  sold  in  this  region 
are  from  abroad  as  well  as  of  foreign  coloring  and  cutting.  Agate 
pebbles  known  as  Gaspe  Pebbles  are  found  in  the  conglomerate 
of  the  Bonaventure  formation,  on  the  Baie  des  Chaleurs,  Que., 
and  along  the  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  in  the  vicinity  of  Goular's 
Bay,  and  especially  on  the  St.  Mary's  River.  Handsome  agate 
and  chalcedony  in  nodules  and  veins  are  of  frequent  occurrence 
on  the  south  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  between  Digby  and 
Scott's  Bay,  N.  S.  Large  masses  of  agate  have  frequently  been 
found  on  this  coast.  Gesner  mentions  a  mass  of  40  pounds 
weight,  made  up  of  curved  layers  of  white,  semi-transparent 
chalcedony  and  red  carnelian,  forming  a  fine  sardonyx.  A  mass 
showing  distinct  parallel  zones  of  cacholong,  white  chalcedony, 
and  red  carnelian,  was  found  a  few  miles  east  of  Cape  Split,  N.  S. 
When  polished  it  resembles  an  aggregation  of  circular  eyes,  and 
hence  the  name  eye-stone,  or  eye-agate,  is  applied  to  it.  At  Scott's 
Bay,  N.  S.,  large  surfaces  of  rocks  are  studded  with  these  minerals. 
Specimens  are  also  found  at  Blomidon  and  at  Partridge  Island, 
N.  S.  Fine  agates  and  carnelians  occur  at  Digby  Neck,  Wood- 
worth's  Cove,  and  at  Cape  Blomidon,  N.  S,  Agate,  chalcedony, 
and  carnelian  are  also  found  in  New  Brunswick,  at  Darling  Lake, 
in  Hampton,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Washdemoak  River,  in  Dal- 
housie,  and  on  the  Tobique  River,  in  Victoria  County.  A  blue 
chalcedony,  rich  brownish-green  by  transmitted  light,  is  men- 
tioned by  How,  from  Cape  Blomidon,  N.  S.  Agate  often  occurs 
in  layers,  forming  an  onyx,  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  Lake 
Superior  regions.  Beautiful  specimens  are  found  at  Two 
Islands,  Cumberland  County,  near  Cape  Split,  at  Scott's  Bay 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA   AND    MEXICO  265 

and  at  Parrsborough,  N.  S.  In  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands, 
B.  C.,  they  occur  abundantly  at  some  localities,  being  derived 
from  the  miocene-tertiary  rock. 

Beautiful  moss  agates  are  found  at  Two  Islands,  Cumber- 
land County,  and  near  Cape  Split,  Partridge  Island,  also  at 
Scott's  Bay,  Kings  County,  N.  S.,  where  they  are  exceptionally 
fine.  Chrysoprase  of  fair  color  has  been  found  in  the  Hudson's 
Bay  district,  on  Belanger's  Island. 

Silicified  woods  are  found  in  the  northwest  Territories  and 
in  British  Columbia. 

Jasper  conglomerate  exists  in  mountain  masses,  along  with 
the  quartzite  masses  of  the  Huronian  series,  for  miles  in  the 
country  north  of  the  Bruce  Mines,  on  Lake  Superior  north  of 
Goular's  Bay,  on  the  St.  Mary's  River  about  four  miles  west  of 
Campment  d'Ours,  on  the  east  shore  of  Lake  George,  and  on 
Lake  Huron,  Ont.  It  is  a  rock  consisting  of  a  matrix  of  white 
quartzite,  in  which  are  pebbles,  often  several  inches  across,  of  a 
rich  red,  yellow,  green,  or  black  jasper,  and  smoky  or  other 
colored  chalcedony,  which  form  a  remarkably  striking  contrast  with 
the  pure  white  matrix.  It  is  susceptible  of  a  high  polish,  and  has 
been  made  into  a  great  variety  of  ornamental  objects.  Some 
very  beautiful  mosaics  have  been  produced  by  using  the  rock 
and  included  pebbles.  It  occurs  in  thick  bands  extending 
for  miles,  and  in  large  boulders,  scattered  along  the  shores 
of  the  lakes  and  rivers.  Within  half  a  mile  of  the  northern 
extremity  of  Goular's  Bay,  Ont.,  is  a  ridge  containing  several 
varieties.  Large  quantities  of  rich,  red  jasper  are  found  in  Hull, 
Que.  Yellow  and  red  occur  at  Handley  Mountains,  Annapolis, 
Pictou,  Gulliver's  Hope,  Blomidon,  N.  S.  ;  at  Belleisle  Bay, 
Kings  County,  Grand  Manan,  Darling's  Lake,  and  Hampton, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Washdemoak  River;  at  Red  Head  and  at 
the  Tobique  River,  Victoria  County,  N.  B. ;  at  Woodworth's 
Cove,  west  of  Scott's  Bay,  and  all  along  the  shore  of  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  from  Sandy  Cove,  N.  S.  Near  the  head  of  St.  Mary's 
Bay  lie  large  blocks  of  red,  yellow,  and  yellowish-red  jasper, 
often  banded,  but  generally  impure. 

Heliotrope  (bloodstone)  in  good  specimens  is  of  rare  occur- 
rence in  the  North  Mountain,  Bay  of  Fundy,  N.  S. 


266  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

Dr.  Gesner  mentions  finding  two  small  nodules  of  opal, 
of  a  waxy  color,  at  Partridge  Island,  N.  S.  Semi-opal  has  been 
found  at  Partridge  Island  in  fine  specimens,  also  at  Grand  Manan, 
N.  B.,  and  other  localities  in  that  vicinity. 

Cacholong  has  been  found  associated  with  chalcedony  in 
Nova  Scotia  on  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  The  hornstone  found  at 
Partridge  Island  admits  of  a  fine  polish  and  is  of  some  use  as  an 
ornamental  stone. 

Jade  (nephrite),  in  the  form  of  archaeological  implements, 
has  been  found  from  the  Straits  of  Fuca  northward  along  the  en- 
tire coast  of  British  Columbia  and  the  northern  end  of  Alaska.1 
At  the  latter  place  it  is  closely  allied  with  other  minerals,  such  as 
the  new  form  of  pectolite,  and  is  found,  with  other  relics  of  vari- 
ous kinds,  about  shell  heaps  and  old  village  sites,  in  graves,  or 
still  preserved,  although  seldom  used,  by  the  natives.  It  is  also 
found  as  far  inland  as  the  second  mountain  system  of  the  Cordil- 
lera belts,  represented  by  the  Gold,  Cariboo,  and  other  ranges, 
principally  among  remains  from  Indian  graves,  and  along  the 
lower  portions  of  the  Fraser  and  Thompson  Rivers,  within  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  Selish  people.  It  is  less  common  in  the  interior  of 
the  province,  which  Dr.  Dawson  accounts  for  in  part  by  the  facts 
that  adzes  or  adze-like  tools  had  not  been  so  much  employed  by 
the  Indians  of  the  interior  and  by  those  of  the  coast,  who  are 
pre-eminent  as  dextrous  workers  in  wood  and  noted  for  the  size 
and  superior  construction  of  their  wooden  houses  and  canoes ; 
and  that,  previous  to  the  introduction  of  iron  tools  among  the 
Eskimos  and  Indians,  the  use  of  jade  must  have  been  much  more 
frequent,  so  much  so  as  to  preclude  the  theory  of  its  having  been 
obtained  in  trade  from  remote  sources.  The  Indians  of  the  west 
coast,  although  they  value  the  jade,  have  for  it  no  superstitious 
or  sentimental  feeling.  The  finding  of  two  partly  worked  small 
boulders  of  jade  on  the  lower  part  of  the  Frazer  River,  at  Lytton 
and  Yale,  B.C.,  respectively,  and  the  discovery  of  unfinished  objects 
in  old  Indian  graves  near  Lytton,  make  it  certain  that  the  man- 
ufacture of  adzes  had  been  actually  carried  on  there.  A  series 
of  specimens,  numbering  sixty-one  in  all,  have  been  deposited  in 

1  On  the  Occurrence  of  Jade  in  British  Columbia,   by  Dr.  George  M.   Dawson.      Canadian 
Record  of  Science,  Vol.  2,  No.  6.    April,  1887. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICQ  267 

the  Museum  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada  at  Ottawa  and 
in  the  Peter  Redpath  Museum,  McGill  College,  Montreal.  These 
consist  of  both  jade  and  pectolite  articles,  in  the  form  of  adzes, 
drill-points  of  borers,  cut  boulders,  sockets  for  fire-drills,  mallets, 
axes,  pendants,  and  burnishers.  Of  the  sixty-one  objects  found, 
seventeen  show  evidence  more  or  less  distinct  of  having  been 
sawn  from  other  pieces.  Nordenskiold '  describes  figures  and  a 
broken  harpoon-point  of  bone  and  nephrite,  from  Point  Clarence, 
65°  north  latitude,  north  of  Norton  Sound.  Dr.  Dawson  says : 
"It  is  among  the  highly  altered  and  decomposed  rocks  of 
the  Carboniferous  and  Triassic  that  silicates  of  the  jade  class 
might  be  expected  to  occur,  and  I  feel  little  doubt  that  when 
these  rocks  are  carefully  investigated  they  will  be  found  to  be 
the  sources  of  the  jade."  The  Indians  of  the  region,  however, 
have  usually,  if  not  invariably,  obtained  their  supply  from  loose 
fragments  and  boulders.  Jade  is  also  reported  from  the  Rae 
River  and  from  the  Hudson  Bay  district. 

Axinite  in  fine  crystals  was  reported  by  Dr.  Bigsby  from 
a  boulder  of  primitive  rock  in  Hawksbury,  near  Ottawa. 

Epidote  is  found  in  many  localities,  though  not  in  gem  form, 
except  when  with  flesh-colored  feldspar  in  the  amygdaloid  trap 
on  Lake  Superior.  This  has  been  polished  to  form  an  odd  orna- 
mental stone.  At  the  falls  of  the  Mingam  River,  Que.,  and  in 
Ramsay  Township,  Ont.,  is  found  a  peculiar,  fine-grained,  reddish 
gneiss,  traversed  by  veins  of  a  pea-green  epidote.  It  is  very 
beautiful  when  polished.  Pale-green  epidote  with  quartz  is  found 
on  the  Matane  River.  The  epidote  which  forms  mountain 
masses  in  the  Shickshock  Mountains,  Que.,  is  hard,  susceptible 
of  a  high  polish,  and  would  be  of  value  as  an  ornamental  stone. 

Amazonstone  (microcline)  has  been  found  in  Sebastopol, 
Ont.,  and  in  Hull,  Que.,  in  cleavages  of  good  color. 

Labradorite,  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  chatoyant  feldspars, 
exists  in  great  quantities  on  the  coast  of  Labrador,  especially  at 
Nain,  and  on  St.  Paul's  Island  adjacent  to  it,  where  the  finest 
known  occurs  in  veins  of  some  size,  where  for  over  a  century  it 
has  been  mined  for  use  in  the  arts.  It  occurs  on  Lake  Huron, 
Ont.,  at  Cape  Mahul,  and  at  Abercombie,  Que.,  also  in  cleavages 

1  Voyage  of  the  Vega,  Vol.  2,  1882. 


-268  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES   IN  THE 

several  inches  in  diameter  and  of  rich  color,  showing  blue  opales- 
cence,  at  Morin,  Que. 

The  beautiful  variety  of  albite  called  peristerite,  exhibiting  a 
peculiar  bluish  chatoyancy  or  opalescence,  is  sometimes  mingled 
with  pale  green  and  yellow,  and  called  "  moonstone."  It  is  found 
in  crystals  and  in  large  cleavable  masses,  containing  disseminated 
grains  of  quartz,  in  veins  cutting  the  Laurentian  strata  at  Bath- 
urst,  Ont.,  on  the  north  side  of  Stony  Lake,  near  the  mouth  of 
Eel  Creek ;  in  Burleigh,  Ont.,  in  crystals,  in  large,  opalescent, 
cleavable  masses  of  reddish  albite,  and  north  of  Perth,  Ont.  It  is 
also  reported  by  Mr.  G.  Christian  Hoffmann,  of  the  Canadian 
Geological  Survey,  in  specimens  showing  beautiful  blue  color, 
from  Villeneuve,  Ottawa  County,  Que. 

Perthite  occurs  in  large  cleavable  masses  in  thick  pegmatite 
veins,  cutting  the  Laurentian  strata,  and  is  often  made  up  of  flesh- 
red  and  reddish-brown  bands  of  orthoclase  and  albite,  interlami- 
nated.  When  cut  in  certain  directions,  it  shows  beautiful  golden 
reflections  like  aventurine,  and  being  susceptible  of  a  high  polish, 
is  adapted  for  an  ornamental  stone  or  for  use  in  jewelry.  It  is 
also  found  in  considerable  quantity  at  Burgess,  Ont.,  about  seven 
miles  southwest  of  the  town  of  Perth,  and  likewise  near  Little 
Adams  Lake. 

Sunstone,  aventurine  feldspar,  has  been  described  by  Dr. 
Bigsby  in  the  form  of  a  largely  crystallized  flesh-red  feldspar, 
constituting  part  of  a  granitic  vein  traversing  gneiss,  twenty  miles 
east  of  the  French  River,  on  the  northeast  shore  of  Lake  Huron, 
and  occurs  in  fine  specimens  at  Sebastopol,  Ont. 

Obsidian  has  been  found  in  British  Columbia,  but  it  has  lit- 
tle value  except  for  the  cheaper  jewelry,  and  even  then  is  rarely 
used  for  such  purposes. 

The  porphyries  which  cut  the  Laurentian  limestones  in  the 
townships  of  Grenville  and  Chatham,  Que.,  form  a  dike  running 
east  and  west  twenty  feet  in  breadth.  They  have  a  dark-green 
or  brownish-black  base,  homogeneous  and  compact,  containing 
crystals  of  red  orthoclase,  and  admitting  of  a  high  polish,  which 
strongly  recommends  the  material  for  ornamental  use. 

The  pegmatite  at  Montgomery's  Clearing  on  Allumette 
Lake,  five  miles  above  Pembroke,  Ont.,  consisting  of  a  brownish- 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA   AND    MEXICO  269 

red  orthoclase  with  white  quartz,  is  a  beautiful  ornamental  stone, 
and  admits  of  a  good  polish. 

Idocrase  occurs  in  wax-yellow  crystals  imbedded  in  lime- 
stone, in  Grenville,  Que.,  in  crystals  of  remarkable  perfection 
and  rich  brown  color ;  in  a  white  calcite,  near  Wakefield,  Que. ; 
on  Frye's  Island,  N.  B.  ;  and  in  large  brown  crystals  at 
Calumet  Falls,  Que.  Some  of  these  would  cut  small  gems,  for 
which  there  is  a  slight  demand  to  represent  the  initial  I  in 
sentimental  jewelry. 

Pyrite  is  found  in  many  localities,  but  nowhere  in  great  per- 
fection. It  was  extensively  cut  and  polished  for  ornaments  a 
century  ago,  but  has  been  largely  superseded  by  the  more 
recent  introduction  of  steel  jewelry. 

Hematite  occurs,  finely  crystallized,  at  Cape  Spencer,  and 
exceptionally  perfect  and  brilliant  at  Digby  Neck,  N.  S.,  Sussex, 
Kings  County,  and  Black  River,  St.  John  County,  N.  B.  This 
fibrous  form  of  red  oxide  of  iron  is  extensively  worked  into 
jewelry  in  England  and  Germany  ;  but  it  has  not  been  found  of 
sufficient  value  in  Canada  to  warrant  working,  as  it  can  be  cut  so 
much  more  cheaply  abroad.  All  the  hematite  jewelry  of  the  Lake 
Superior  region  is  believed  to  be  foreign,  not  only  in  workman- 
ship, but  in  material. 

Although  olivine,  chrysolite,  or  peridot,  is  found  in  a  num- 
ber of  localities  as  a  rock  constituent,  and  often  in  the  form  of 
imperfect  olive  and  amber-colored  crystals,  £  an  inch  in  diameter,  at 
Mount  Royal,  Montarville,  Mount  Albert,  and  Rougemont,  Que., 
it  has  not  yet  been  observed  of  sufficient  clearness  and  perfection 
to  afford  gems  of  any  value. 

The  andalusite,  found  on  Lake  St.  Francis,  Que.,  in  small,  flesh- 
red  prisms  not  exceeding  TV  inch  in  diameter,  and  also  in  black 
crystals  and  the  variety  known  as  chiastolite,  made,  or  cross 
stone,  is  sold  abroad  for  use  in  jewelry.  It  also  occurs  at  Guys- 
borough,  N.  S.,  in  fair  macles. 

Of  the  deep  chrome-green  pyroxene  found  at  Orford,  Que.,. 
many  fine  crystals  have  been  found.  Occasionally  they  are 
transparent  and  would  afford  gems.  The  lilac-colored  variety 
from  Grenville,  Que.,  does  not  admit  of  a  fine  polish. 

Staurolite  has  been  found  at  several  localities  in  Nova  Scotia, 


27O  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

more  especially  at  Guysborough.  This  mineral,  when  in  perfect 
crosses,  finds  some  sale  in  Switzerland  for  charms. 

Diopside  is  found  as  a  rock-constituent  in  many  localities  in 
the  Laurentian  area.  At  Calumet  Falls,  Que.,  it  occurs  in  crys- 
tals 6  inches  long,  though  not  of  gem  value. 

Scapolite  or  wernerite  occurs  in  large  cleavable  masses  in  a 
limestone  at  Grenville,  Que.,  and  Bathurst,  Ont.  When  free 
from  the  lilac-colored  crystals  of  pyroxene  with  which  it  is  asso- 
ciated, it  admits  of  a  good  polish,  but  is  of  little  value,  if  any, 
in  the  arts. 

Ilvaite  has  been  found  in  a  boulder  about  a  foot  in  diameter  in 
the  vicinity  of  Ottawa,  Ont,  and  is  believed  to  form  a  bed  in  the 
Laurentian  series.  It  has  little  value  as  a  gem,  but  is  occasionally 
used  for  the  letter  I  in  sentimental  jewelry. 

Sodalite  in  fine  blue  grains  has  been  found  in  the  granite  of 
Brome,  Que.,  in  seams  at  Montreal,  Que.,  and  in  veins  several 
inches  wide  on  the  line  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  at 
Kicking  Horse  Pass,  B.  C.,  by  Dr.  B.  J.  Harrington.  It  is 
occasionally  used  in  the  arts. 

Lazulite  is  reported  from  the  Hudson  Bay  district,  but  of 
little  gem  value  even  when  of  fine  color. 

Prehnite  is  associated  with  native  copper  and  calcite  in  the 
Lake  Superior  region,  where  it  is  often  of  a  rich  green  color,  in 
spherical  masses  of  crystals  an  inch  across,  or  in  aggregations  even 
larger,  affording  a  curious  green  stone  resembling  a  chrysoprase. 
Fine  specimens  occur  at  Clifton,  Clark's  Head,  and  Black  Rock, 
Kings  County,  N.  S. 

The  titanites  of  Canada  have  a  world-wide  reputation,  not 
only  for  their  color,  their  polish,  and  the  perfection  of  the  crys- 
tals, but  also  for  their  great  size.  A  twin  crystal  of  this  mineral 
has  been  found  on  Turner's  Island,  in  Lake  Clear,  weighing  80 
pounds.  They  occur  abundantly  in  this  region,  associated  with 
apatite.  The  crystals  are  generally  of  such  deep  brown  color  as 
to  appear  black.  It  is  rare  that  even  a  small  transparent 
gem  could  be  cut  from  them ;  as  crystals,  however,  they  are 
unexcelled,  and  many  thousand  dollars'  worth  have  been  sold  as 
specimens.  The  finest  are  found  in  Renfrew  County,  especially 
in  Sebastopol  and  Brudenell  Townships,  Ont. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 

Zonochlorite,  said  by  Hawes  to  be  a  chemically  impure  vari- 
ety of  prehnite,  is  yet  distinctive  enough  as  a  gem-stone  to  entitle 
it  to  its  name.  It  occurs  in  small  rolled  masses,  and  in  the  rock, 
at  Nipigon  Bay,  Ont.,  and  was  described  by  Prof.  A.  E.  Foote. 
It  is  a  dark,  opaque,  green  stone,  beautifully  marked  and  veined, 
and  admitting  of  a  high  polish. 

Thomsonite  of  a  red  color,  compact  and  fibrous,  often 
banded  with  green  in  a  number  of  concentric  rings,  is  found  on 
the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  Ont.,  and  at  Cape  Split, 
N.  S.  The  pebbles  vary  in  size  from  -g-  inch  up  to  an  inch  across, 
and  are  quite  extensively  sold  on  all  sides  of  the  lake  as  an  orna- 
mental stone.  The  green  which  Peckham  and  Hall  (see  p.  181) 
described  as  lintonite,  an  uncrystalline  green  variety  of  thomson- 
ite,  often  forms  the  center  or  band,  making  an  effective  gem- 
stone,  and  is  sold  for  that  purpose. 

The  ilmenite  in  the  parish  of  St.  Urbain,  at  Baie  St.  Paul, 
sometimes  contains  grains  of  a  greenish  triclinic  feldspar,  and 
would  furnish  an  ornamental  stone  similar  to  the  porphyritic 
menaccanite  found  at  Cumberland,  R.  I.  It  also  contains  rutile 
crystals,  too  small  to  have  value  as  gems,  though  adding  to  the 
beauty  of  the  material  when  polished. 

Natrolite  is  found  in  stout  crystals  with  other  zeolites  at  Pe- 
ter's Point  and  other  localities  on  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  at 
Swan's  Creek,  Cape  Blomidon,  and  Partridge  Island,  N.  S. 
When  transparent  and  of  sufficient  size,  it  is  occasionally  used  as 
a  gem  to  represent  the  initial  N  in  sentimental  jewelry. 

Apophyllite  is  often  found  along  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia, 
on  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  principally  at  Cape  d'Or,  Haute  Island, 
Partridge  Island,  and  Swan's  Creek  just  above  Cape  Blomidon, 
in  magnificent  crystals  sometimes  an  inch  or  more  across.  It  oc- 
casionally occurs  on  agate  and  amethyst  in  the  trap  rock,  and 
would  afford  a  mineralogical  gem,  as  its  pearly  lustre  produces 
a  curious  effect,  like  that  of  a  fish's  eye ;  hence  the  name  ichthy- 
ophthalmite,  or  fish-eye  stone.  The  color  is  generally  white,  but 
occasionally  the  crystals  have  a  rich  green  tinge. 

Hoffmann  has  described  a  part  of  a  crystal  of  monazite, 
weighing  14  pounds,  from  Villeneuve,  Ottawa  County,  making 
this  one  of  the  most  remarkable  occurrences  known.  If  trans- 


272  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

parent,  it  would  afford  a  hyacinth-yellow  gem,  rather  low  in 
hardness. 

Apatite,  which  has  added  so  much  to  the  mining  industry 
of  the  Dominion,  is  found  there  in  greater  quantity  and  in  finer 
crystals  than  in  any  other  country.  The  crystals  are  often  of  great 
size  and  perfection,  one  famous  crystal  from  the  Emerald  Mine,  at 
Buckingham,  Que.,  weighing  550  pounds.  Magnificent  crystals 
are  found  throughout  eastern  Ontario,  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Clear,  several  feet  in  length  and  of  fine  color ;  at  Sebastopol  and 
elsewhere  throughout  Renfrew  County ;  and  at  Wakefield,  Tem- 
pleton,  Portland,  and  Buckingham  Townships,  Ottawa  County, 
Que.  The  crystals  are  often  partly  transparent,  and  are  of  all 
shades  of  red-brown,  brick-red,  and  often  rich,  deep  green,  espe- 
cially in  Ottawa  County,  in  which  case  they  should  be  adapted 
to  some  of  the  uses  of  fluorite  as  ornamental  stones. 

Wilsonite  is  found  in  Bathurst  and  Burgess,  Ont.,  and  Ot- 
tawa County,  Que.,  in  masses  of  some  size,  associated  with  sea- 
polite.  The  specimens  are  beautiful,  the  minerals  often  passing 
into  each  other.  The  rich,  purplish-red  color  of  this  mineral, 
and  the  fact  that  it  admits  of  a  good  polish,  make  it  one  of  the 
most  interesting  of  gem  minerals. 

Fluorite  is  occasionally  found  in  purple  crystals  measuring 
several  inches  on  a  face,  associated  with  and  on  the  Lake  Supe- 
rior amethyst.  Green  and  purple  fluor  often  fills  mineral  veins  in 
the  Lake  Superior  region,  and  veins  in  syenite  opposite  Pic 
Island,  on  the  mainland.  On  an  island  near  Gravelly  Point,  in  a 
porphyry,  it  occurs  in  green  octahedral  crystals,  with  barite ;  in 
green  cubes  associated  with  calcite  and  quartz  at  Prince's  Mine, 
Ont.;  and  in  small,  beautiful  crystals  near  Hull,  Que.  Fluor 
spar  of  a  beautiful  blue  color  is  found  at  Plaster  Cove,  Richmond 
County,  N.  S.,  and  also  on  the  west  side  of  the  harbor  of  Great 
St.  Lawrence,  Newfoundland.  Small  purple  crystals  of  great 
beauty  are  occasionally  found  on  pearl-spar  in  the  geodes  at  Ni- 
agara Falls,  Ont,  and  elsewhere  in  the  Niagara  formation.  A 
green,  compact  variety  occurs  in  white  calcite  associated  with 
galena,  in  veins  cutting  the  Potsdam  sandstone,  at  Baie  St.  Paul 
and  Murray  Bay,  Que.,  which  would  work  into  an  ornamental 
stone.  It  is  found  frequently  all  through  the  Laurentian 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  273 

rocks.  It  is  rarely  cut  into  mineral ogical  gems,  but  when  com- 
pact, of  good  color,  or  beautifully  veined,  it  is  worked  into  vases, 
cups,  and  other  ornamental  objects,  known  as  Blue  John,  Derby- 
shire Spar,  and  similar  names. 

Malachite  of  gem  value  has  not  been  found  to  any  extent  in 
Canada,  although  the  species  occurs  in  nearly  every  local- 
ity where  copper  and  its  ores  are  obtained.  It  has  also  been  ob- 
served at  Sutton,  Que. 

The  agalmatolite  found  in  Canada  is  not  of  such  quality  as 
to  fit  it  for  the  uses  of  the  Chinese  figure-stone. 

Jet  is  found  at  Pictou,  Pictou  County,  N.  S.,  in  fine 
pieces.  It  has  been  very  generally  superseded  in  jewelry  by 
black  onyx,  and  the  little  now  used  is  mined  at  Whitby,  Eng., 
owing  to  the  superior  hardness  of  that  found  there,  and  the 
perfect  facilities  for  working  it. 

What  Canada  has  produced  in  precious  and  ornamental 
stones  was  well  shown  at  the  Centennial  Exhibition,  Philadelphia, 
1876,  and  at  the  Colonial  and  Indian  Exhibition  at  London,  in 
1886.  The  fine  minerals  have  found  their  way  into  the  well- 
arranged  collection  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada  at 
Ottawa,  the  British  Museum,  the  mineralogical  collection  of 
McGill  College,  which  contains  the  cabinet  of  John  G.  Miller, 
and  the  Provincial  Museum  of  Nova  Scotia.  Many  of  the  finest 
specimens,  in  full  series,  grace  the  cabinets  of  Clarence  S. 
Bement,  at  Philadelphia,  King's  College,  at  Windsor,  N.  S.,  the 
School  of  Mines,  New  York  (which  contains  the  collection  of  Dr. 
Henry  How),  Walter  G.  Ferrier,  Montreal,  W.  J.  Wilcox  (de- 
posited at  the  Wagner  Institute,  Philadelphia),  Amherst  Col- 
lege, at  Amherst,  Mass.,  Prof.  Othniel  C.  Marsh,  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  and  the  New  York  State  Museum,  at  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Further  reference  to  this  subject  can  be  found  in  the  follow- 
ing works :  "  Remarks  on  the  Mineralogy  and  Geology  of  the 
Peninsula  of  Nova  Scotia,"  by  Charles  T.  Jackson  and  Francis 
Alger  (Cambridge,  1832);  "Geology  and  Mineralogy  of  Nova 
Scotia,"  by  Abraham  Gesner  (Halifax,  1836)  ;  "Catalogue  of  the 
Mineral  Localities  of  New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  and  New- 
foundland," Am.  J.  Sci.  II.,  Vol.  35,  1863;  "Mineralogy  of  Nova 
Scotia,"by  Henry  How  (Halifax,  N.  S.,  1868)  ;  "  Geology  of  Can- 


274 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


Gfn 


ada  :  Report  of  the  Geological  Survey  from  its  Commencement  to 
1863  "  (Montreal,  1863),  XXVII.,  983  ;  "  The  Mineral  Resources 
of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  "  (Ottawa)  ;  "  Descriptive  Catalogue 
of  a  Collection  of  Economic  Minerals  of  Canada  at  the  Philadel- 
phia International  Exhibition"  (Montreal,  1876)  ;  "  The  Woods 
and  Minerals  of  New  Brunswick  at  the  Centennial  Exhibition 
at  Philadelphia,"  by  L.  W.  Bailey  and  Edward  Jack  (Fredericton, 
N.  B.,  1876);  "Dana's  Mineralogy"  (New  York,  1875); 
"  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  a  Collection  of  the  Economic  Minerals 
of  Canada  at  the  Colonial  and  Indian  Exhibition,  London,  1886," 
by  the  Geological  Corps,  Alfred  R.  C.  Selwyn,  Director  (Lon- 
don, 1886);  Mineral  Wealth  of  British  Columbia,  Dr.  George 
W.  Dawson  (Ottawa,  1889)  ;  Mineral  Statistics  of  Canada,  1887, 
Eugene  Coste  (Ottawa,  Canada). 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


In  Mexico  and  Central  America. 


OUR  knowledge  regarding  the  precious  and  ornamen- 
tal stones  of  Mexico  and  Central  America  is  very 
meagre,  especially  when  one  considers  the  extent  of 
the  territory  and  the  richness  of  the  mineral  wealth 
that  undoubtedly  exists  there.  The  fullest  information  on  these 
subjects  is  furnished  by  Santiago  Ramirez/  from  whose  book 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  take  many  extracts  in  the  sequel. 
We  have  his  statement  that  the  diamond  has  been  found  in 
Mexico,  but  the  description  is  altogether  too  unsatisfactory 
to  establish  it  positively.  The  story  he  gives,  on  the  author- 
ity of  Seftor  Del  Moral,1  is  this :  General  Guerrero,  while 
searching  with  a  few  soldiers  for  a  suitable  camping-ground,  found 
what  appeared  to  be  large  pebbles,  some  of  which,  on  being 
broken  open,  proved  to  be  hollow  geodes,  and  to  contain  loose, 
brilliant  crystals.  Two  of  these,  which  had  been  given  by  the 
General  to  a  lady  friend,  and  had  been  mounted  as  ear-rings, 
were,  about  the  latter  part  of  1822,  shown  by  her  to  Professor  Del 
Rio,  who  is  said  to  have  pronounced  them  diamonds,  octahedral 
in  form,  and  of  a  quality  not  inferior  to  any  from  India  or  Brazil. 
Seftor  Guillow,  a  lapidary  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  is  said  by  the 
same  author  to  have  bought  a  number  of  these  diamonds  that  to- 

1  Noticia  Historia  de  la  Minerca  de  Mexico  (Mexico,  1884-1885),  pp.  237-250. 
8  La  Naturaleza,  Vol.  2,  pp.   257-302,   1873. 


275 


276  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

gether  in  their  rough  state  weighed  18  carats.  The  largest  of 
these,  which  weighed  3  carats,  he  presented  to  the  Mining  Col- 
lege Museum.  Another  crystal,  that  weighed  2  carats,  General 
Guerrero  kept  for  himself.  As  this  is  the  only  reference  to  the 
finding  of  diamonds  in  that  country,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that 
nothing  further  is  known  regarding  it.  It  is,  however,  highly 
probable  that  if,  as  is  represented,  the  crystals  were  found  in 
goedes,  they  were  not  diamonds,  but  quartz  crystals. 

Sapphire  and  ruby  of  value  as  precious  stones  have  never 
been  reported  from  Mexico,  but  among  a  number  of  rolled  peb- 
bles of  jasper,  agate,  and  chalcedony,  that  were  found  near  San 
Geronimo,  Oaxaca,  Mexico,  near  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec, 
and  brought  to  the  writer  by  Dr.  Knight  Neftel,  of  New  York, 
for  examination  as  to  their  gem  value,  a  rolled  pebble  of  sap- 
phire was  found.  In  color  it  was  mottled  blue  and  yellowish-white. 
It  'was  slightly  fissured,  and  translucent,  and  did  not  show  crystal- 
line form,  although  the  rolling  seemed  to  have  brought  out  the 
cleavage  more  distinctly,  and  this  reflected  a  fine  pearly  lustre. 
It  weighed  19*223  grams  and  had  a  specific  gravity  of  3'Q.  This 
is  low,  but  may  be  due  to  the  impurities  in  the  veining.  From 
this  single  pebble,  it  would  be  impossible  to  decide  whether  gems 
occur  in  that  region,  but  further  investigation  will  determine  this. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  corundum  may  exist  there  in  quantities 
large  enough  to  be  of  commercial  value.  And  since  it  is  in  this 
very  State  that  so  many  jadeite  objects  with  aboriginal  carvings 
have  been  found,  it  may  be  that  sapphire,  perhaps  from  the 
same  locality,  was  used  in  the  slitting,  drilling,  and  cutting  of 
them.  Ruby  is  said  to  occur  in  Durango,  and  also  in  Secom, 
near  the  Falls  of  California  ;  but  whether  the  stone  so  reported  is 
ruby  or  only  garnet,  it  has  been  impossible  definitely  to  determine. 
Emerald  is  found  according  to  D.  Ignacio  Alcocer,  member  of 
the  Scientific  Commission  of  Mexico,  in  the  vicinity  of  Tulan- 
cingo  in  the  State  of  Hidalgo.  No  statement  is  made  as  to  the 
quality,  and  the  name  may  have  been  applied  to  common  beryl, 
which  has  been  reported  from  the  State  of  Hidalgo,  Tajupilco, 
and  on  the  hill  of  Cerro  Gordo  in  Guanajuato. 

Fine  pyrope  garnets,  similar  to  those  found  in  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico,  are  found  in  Chihuahua,  especially  near  Lakejaco. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA   AND    MEXICO  277 

These  are  often  gathered  by  the  Comanche  Indians.  Pyrope 
garnet  is  also  reported  from  the  State  of  Sonora.  At  Trumfo, 
Lower  California,  beautiful  garnets,  in  crystals  of  i  to  i  inch  in 
diameter,  are  said  to  occur  in  a  white  rock.  These  are  probably 
not  of  value.  A.  B.  Damour  describes  essonite,  with  a  specific 
gravity  of  3*57,  in  light-red  dodecahedral  crystals  in  a  granular 
limestone,  from  Rancho  de  San  Juan. 

lolite  or  dichroite  is  reported  as  associated  with  beryl  in 
Tajupilco,  in  the  State  of  Hidalgo,  and  it  is  said  to  occur  on  the 
hill  of  Cerro  Gordo  in  Guanajuato. 

The  name  "jade  "  is  popularly  applied  to  several  distinct  orna- 
mental stones,  but  since  A.  B.  Damour's  investigations  into  the 
character  of  jade,  jadeite,  and  chlormelanite,  the  term  has  been 
restricted  mineralogically  to  what  is  specifically  known  as  nephrite. 
Many  bric-a-brac  dealers  never  distinguish  between  jade  and 
jadeite,  calling  both  simply  jade. 

The  word  "jade"  is  evidently  a  corruption  of  the  Spanish 
"  ijada,"  since  the  mineral  is  first  mentioned  under  this  name  in 
the  writings  of  Monardas  in  1565,  and  was  brought  from  Mexico 
and  Peru  under  the  name  "  Piedra  de  ijada,"  or  "  Stone  of  the 
Loins,"  in  allusion  to  its  supposed  curative  properties  in  diseases 
of  the  loins  and  kidneys.  Amulets  of  jade-like  minerals  have  al- 
ways been  highly  venerated  by  the  natives  throughout  Central 
America,  Mexico,  and  Peru. 

Jade,  or  nephrite,  is  a  silicate  of  calcium  and  magnesium.  It 
has  a  specific  gravity  varying  from  27  to  2'g,  a  hardness  of  6*5,  and 
is  extremely  tough,  more  so  than  jadeite.  It  may  be  described  as 
a  cryptocrystalline  variety  of  hornblende,  exhibiting  no  crystalline 
form  or  cleavage,  with  a  splintery  fracture,  like  horn.  The  color 
is  generally  uniform,  commonly  either  white  or  green,  occasion- 
ally yellow  or  brown,  very  rarely  with  a  bluish  or  pink  tint. 
Jadeite  is  a  silicate  of  aluminum  and  sodium.  Its  specific  gravity 
ranges  from  3*25  to  3*35,  and  it  has  a  hardness  of  7.  It  has  a 
crystalline  structure,  is  not  as  tough  as  jade,  and  its  composition 
places  it  nearer  to  epidote  than  to  hornblende.  Its  lustre  is  more 
brilliant  than  that  of  jade.  It  is  generally  white,  occasionally  green- 
ish, with  veins  or  spots  of  almost  emerald-green  color,  also  let- 
tuce-green and  sage-green.  In  1865,  Damour,  who  originally 


278  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES   IN  THE 

described  jadeite,  also  described  chlormelanite,  another  substance 
resembling  jade.  This  material  contains  a  larger  percentage  of 
iron  than  jadeite,  and  its  specific  gravity  is  higher,  ranging  from 
3*4  to  3*65.  The  color  is  generally  blackish  green,  spinach  or  sage 
green,  marked  with  patches  of  lighter  shades.  It  is  found  en- 
closing garnet  with  iron  pyrite. 

Prof.  Heinrich  Fischer  of  Freiburg,  Baden,  devoted  his  entire 
life  to  the  study  of  the  literature,  archaeology,  and  examination  of 
jade,  jadeite,  chlormelanite,  and  allied  minerals.  The  results  of 
this  study  were  published  in  his  "  Nephrit  und  Jadeit"  (Stuttgart, 
1875),  in  which  he  shows  that  these  and  other  green  stones  have 
been  called  by  150  different  names,  which  he  gives,  as  well  as  a 
chronologically  arranged  table  of  the  literature  on  the  subject 
from  the  earliest  time  to  his  death.  The  United  States  Na- 
tional Museum  has  a  large  and  fine  series  of  jadeite  objects  from 
Mexico,  nearly  all  of  which  are  from  the  State  of  Oaxaca. 
The  Museum  is  also  well  supplied  with  jadeite  objects  from  Cen- 
tral America,  only  a  few  of  which  are  from  Nicaragua  and 
Guatemala.  The  finest  are  from  Costa  Rica.  With  these  jade- 
ites  are  many  articles  of  softer  green  stones,  and  occasionally  an 
object  of  quartz  or  chalcedony.1 

Among  the  more  remarkable  jadeite  objects  of  Mexican  ori- 
gin is  an  adze  described  by  the  author,  believed  to  be  the 
largest  yet  found.  On  its  face  is  figured  a  grotesque  human  fig- 
ure, and  for  so  hard  a  material,  the  workmanship  is  excellent.  It 
is  said  to  have  been  found  about  twenty  years  ago  in  Oaxaca, 
Mexico.  It  measures  272  millimeters  (loff  inches)  in  length, 
153  millimeters  (6  inches)  in  width,  and  1 18  millimeters  (4!  inches) 
in  thickness,  and  weighs  229*3  Troy  ounces.  Across  the  ears  153 
millimeters  (6  inches),  across  the  lower  axe  end  82  millimeters  (3^ 
inches),  height  of  head  to  neck  158  millimeters  (6£  inches),  height 
from  chin  to  foot  115  millimeters  (4^  inches),  and  the  legs  50  milli- 
meters (2  inches).  From  the  back  a  piece  about  1 60  millimeters  (6£ 
inches)  long  and  50  millimeters  (2  inches)  wide  has  been  removed. 
The  color  is  light  grayish-green  with  a  tinge  of  blue,  and  streaks 
of  an  almost  emerald-green  on  the  back.  In  style  of  ornamenta- 

1  On  Nephrite  and  Jadeite  by  Prof.  Frank  W.  Clarke  and  George  P.  Merrill.    Proceedings  of 
the  United  States  National  Museum  (1888),  Vol.  n,  p.  115,  et  seq. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  279 

tion  it  very  closely  resembles  a  gigantic  adze  of  granite,  57  centi- 
meters long  and  34  centimeters  wide,  mentioned  by  A.  Cha- 
vero,1  and  it  has  almost  a  counterpart  in  the  green  aventu- 
rine  quartz  adze  now  forming  part  of  the  Christy  Collec- 
tion at  the  British  Museum,  and  formerly  in  the  possession 
of  Percy  Doyle  of  the  British  Diplomatic  Service,  differing 
from  these  two  objects,  however,  in  having  no  ornamenta- 
tion on  the  forehead,  and  in  having  four  dull  markings  on  each 
ear,  one  under  each  eye,  and  one  near  each  hand,  which  seem- 
ingly could  have  served  no  other  purpose  than  to  hold  thin  plates 
or  films  of  gold,  which  the  polished  surfaces  would  not  do.  If 
this  was  so,  no  trace  of  the  gold  can  now  be  seen.  From  all  ap- 
pearances, this  adze  was  shaped  from  a  boulder,  since  weathered 
surfaces,  such  as  appear  on  all  sides  of  it,  would  be  found  only  on 
an  exposed  fragment.  The  lapidarian  work  on  this  piece  is 
probably  equal  to  anything  that  has  been  found,  and  the  polish 
is  as  fine  as  that  of  modern  times.  One  point  of  interest,  which 
should  not  be  lost  sight  of,  is  the  removal  of  a  portion  which 
has  weighed  fully  two  pounds.  Why  was  this  ?  Similar  remov- 
als and  divisions  have  been  mentioned.  On  April  27,  1881,  in  a 
paper  read  before  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  Philip  J.  J. 
Valentini  described  two  carved  jadeites  which  showed  similar 
treatment.  One  was  the  Humboldt  celt,  a  votive  adze  presented 
to  Humboldt  by  Del  Rio  in  1803,  and  the  other,  the  so-called 
Leyden  plate,  which  was  found  by  S.  A.  von  Braam  near  St. 
Felipe,  in  Honduras,  near  the  borders  of  Guatemala,  and  given 
by  him  to  the  Leyden  Museum.  Both  of  these  objects  are 
9  inches  in  length  and  3^  inches  in  breadth,  the  former  having  a 
thickness  of  i  f  inches  and  the  latter  |  of  an  inch.  From  the 
fact  that  the  two,  if  placed  together,  face  to  face,  have  exactly  the 
same  outline,  it  is  highly  probable  that  they  were  originally  part 
of  one  and  the  same  celt,  and  it  is  quite  possible  the  remaining 
parts  may  yet  be  found.  In  1886,  Professor  Frederick  W.  Putnam 
exhibited  before  the  same  Society  a  remarkable  series  of  Nica- 
raguan  and  Costa  Rican  jadeites,  which  were  all  ornaments,  and 
showed  that  they  had  been  made  by  cutting  celts  which  had  been 
perforated  by  one  or  two  drilled  holes,  into  halves,  thirds,  and 

1  Mexico  4  traves  de  Los  Siglos,  Mexico,  1886,  p.  64. 


28O  GEMS     AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

quarters,  in  one  instance,  two  of  them  fitting  together.  The  ex- 
planation offered  is,  that  the  supply  of  the  material  having  be- 
come exhausted,  recourse  was  had  to  division,  or  a  removal 
of  a  part  from  existing  objects,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing others,  perhaps  to  be  buried  with  some  dead  chief,  or  to  be  be- 
stowed on  new  branches  of  the  tribe,  an  object  held  sacred. 
Fully  one-eighth  was  removed  from  the  back  of  this  adze,  and 
the  manner  in  which  the  instrument  used  in  the  removal  was  held 
has  produced  a  rounded  cut  on  each  side,  lending  probability  to 
the  supposition  that  some  abrasive  was  employed,  drawn  with  a 
string  held  in  the  hands,  or  stretched  across  a  bow.  If  the 
Aztecs  knew  of  the  existence  of  this  sapphire,  we  can  more  read- 
ily understand  how  they  worked  so  large  a  mass  of  tough  and 
hard  material.  So  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able  to  ascertain, 
no  similar  object  of  equal  magnitude  and  archaeological  interest 
exists.  Neither  the  Humboldt  celt,  the  Leyden  plate,  the  Vienna 
adze,  nor  the  one  in  the  Ethnological  Museum  at  Dresden,  which 
weighs  only  seven  pounds,  and  is  entirely  devoid  of  orna- 
mentation, can  compare  with  it. 

A  jadeite  breastplate  was  obtained  in  1884,  by  a  German  en- 
gineer, from  a  tomb  near  Santa  Lucia,  Cotzulmaguapa,  where  Dr. 
Behrendt  had  made  some  extensive  excavations  and  obtained 
a  quantity  of  large  engraved  stones  and  other  antiquities  from 
the  old  temples  and  tombs  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Quiche,  which 
exist  in  that  neighborhood.  It  is  16  centimeters  (6i  inches)  wide, 
about  1 2  centimeters  (5  inches)  high,  i  centimeter  (f  inch)  thick. 
The  color  round  the  edges  is  a  grayish-green,  while  on  the  out- 
side, at  the  center,  it  is  a  light  rusty  brown,  perhaps  from  burn- 
ing. By  transmitted  light,  the  color  is  a  light  apple-green.  It 
has  been  drilled  at  two  places  on  the  back  edges  with  holes 
4  millimeters  (i  inch)  in  width,  and  has  been  sliced  or  cut  from 
some  boulder,  as  the  back  edges  show.  At  one  place,  there  are 
evidences  of  an  attempt  to  slit  it.  According  to  Dr.  Valentini, 
the  cutting  represents  a  human  face  or  mask,  or  rather  the  head- 
gear of  a  man,  representing  the  symbol  Achau,  meaning 
"  Ross  "  or  "  Lord  ; "  the  head  of  the  tribe  (one  of  the  most  com- 
mon motives  of  the  Maya,  which  is  found  at  least  a  thousand 
times  drawn  and  colored  in  the  Maya  codices)  forming  the  walls 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


28l 


and  friezes  of  their  structures.  Achau  is  also  the  name  of  the 
nineteenth  day  of  the  Maya  month.  Each  of  the  eyes  is  repre- 
sented by  a  circle  with  two  flattened  sides.  Below  these  is  a 
beard  or  tattooing.  A  circle  with  a  central  dot  represents  a 
mouth,  and  the  nose  is  an  oblong  between  the  eyes,  extending 
below  the  tattooing.  From  the  ears,  which  are  quite  natural,  are 
suspended  feather  pendants.  Feathers  also  cover  the  top  of  the 
head,  and  probably  ornament  the  chin  as  well. 

In  1879  Mrs.  Erminnie  A.  Smith  exhibited  an  interesting 
jadeite  mask,  having  a  specific  gravity  of  3*3  at  the  Saratoga 

meeting  of  the  American  Associa- 
tion.1 It  represented  a  crying 
baby-face  (see  Fig.  13.)  and  is 
almost  identical  with  one  made 
of  quartzite  in  the  Peabody 
Museum  of  Archaeology  at  Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 

The  Codex  Mendoza,  a  copy 
of  the  tribute-roll  of  the  ancient 
Mexican  Empire  published  in 
Lord  Kingsborough's  "Antiqui- 
ties of  Mexico"  (London,  1830), 
defines  the  tax  from  each  district, 
naming  the  cities.  Strings  of 
chalchihuitl  are  mentioned  as  part  of 
the  tribute  from  a  number  of  localities,  and  refer  evidently  to 
small  rounded  pieces  used  as  beads,  and  obtained  from  the  sands 
of  streams.  Only  from  one  district  were  large  pieces  of  chalchihuitl 
demanded.  These,  three  in  number  each  year,  were  required 
from  Totoltepec,  Chinantlan,  and  other  towns  situated  in  the  pres- 
ent State  of  Oaxaca,  and  principally  in  the  department  of  Valalta 
(Zoochila).  Miihlenpfordt  describes  this  region  as  mountainous 
and  wild,  inhabited  by  the  Mixe  Indians  and  the  Chinantecas." 

Dr.  Daniel  G.  Brinton  suggests  that  in  Valalta  (Zoochila), 
in  the  State  of  Oaxaca,  if  jadeite  exists  in  Mexico,  it  may  be 
found  in  large  pieces,  and  that  this  is  the  locality  which  the  explorer 

1  Proc.  Am.  Asso.  Adv.  Sci.,  1879,  Vol.  28,  p.  523. 

2  Schilderung  der  Republik  Mejico,  Vol.  2,  p.  213. 


FIG.    13. 
JADEITE   MASK. 


282  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN  THE 

should  penetrate  if  he  would  discover  the  locality  of  the  large 
pieces  of  Mexican  jadeite  l  or  perhaps  the  mineral  in  situ. 

Bernardino  de  Sahagun  3  gives  the  following  description  of 
chalchihuitl : 

The  nahuatl  (Mexican)  name  for  jadeite  is  chalchihuitl.  This 
appears  to  have  been  applied  to  any  greenish,  partially  transpar- 
ent stone  capable  of  receiving  a  handsome  polish.  All  such  were 
highly  esteemed.  Specific  distinctions  were  established  between 
such  precious  minerals  by  descriptive  adjectives,  as  follows : 

Iztac  chalchihuitl,  white  chalchihuitl ;  of  a  fine  green,  quite 
transparent,  without  stripes  or  stains. 

Quetzal  chalchihuitl,  precious  chalchihuitl ;  white,  much  trans- 
parency, with  a  slight  greenish  tinge,  somewhat  like  jasper. 

Tlilayotic,  literally  "of  a  blackish  watery  color";  with  min- 
gled shades  of  green  and  black,  partially  transparent. 

Tolteca-iztli,  literally  "  Toltec  knife  "  or  "Toltec  obsidian  "  ; 
of  a  clear,  translucent  green,  and  very  beautiful. 

It  is  very  evident  that  this  is  the  so-called  Mexican  onyx,  or 
Tecali  marble  or  onyx,  which  exists  in  Tecali  in  veins,  and  is  in 
reality  an  aragonite  stalagmite.  Great  quantities  of  it  were  made 
into  Mexican  figures,  ornaments,  and  beads,  which  are  found  all 
the  way  from  northern  Mexico  down  to  Oaxaca.  This  so-called 
onyx  is  extensively  quarried  to  this  day,  forming  one  of  our  rich- 
est ornamental  stones.  (See  Mexican  Onyx.) 

Quetzal  chalchihuitl  is  precious  chalchihuitl,  white,  with  much 
transparency,  and  with  a  slight  greenish  tinge,  something  like  jas- 
per. Various  green  stones  exist  at  present,  and  were  used  in 
considerable  abundance  in  ancient  Mexico.  Among  eight  green 
stone  objects,  sent  to  the  writer  at  one  time  as  jadeite,  four 
were  jadeite,  one  was  laminated  serpentine,  another  a  greenish 
quartz,  and  two  a  mixture  of  white  feldspar  and  green  horn- 
blende. In  a  string  of  beads  were  four  pieces  of  jadeite ;  but 
all  the  others  were,  as  are  the  jadeite  beads,  in  the  form  of 
rounded  pebbles,  drilled  from  both  sides,  and  there  were  nearly  a 
dozen  different  substances  in  this  string.  The  question  is,  are  these 
pebbles  a  part  of  the  tribute  mentioned  in  the  Codex  Mendoza  ? 

1  Science,  Vol.  12,  p.  168,  Oct.  5,  1888. 

2  Historia  ^e  la  Nueva  Espana,  Book  n,  chap.  8. 


BEADS     OF    JADEITE,     AGATE,    JASPER,     SERPENTINE,    AND     ROCK    CRYSTAL 

VALLEY   OF   MEXICO 


OP  THE 

[UHIVBRSIT7] 

'&»&£> 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  283 

If  so,  they  must  have  existed  in  some  abundance ;  and  they 
have  not  been  reworked  from  other  objects,  as  are  the  larger 
pieces,  like  the  Costa  Rican  celts.  Can  it  be  that  the  large  pieces 
came  from  lower  Mexico,  and,  after  use  as  implements,  were 
bartered,  but  being  green  stones,  which  have  been  given  prefer- 
ence the  world  over  by  savages  and  barbarians,  and  here  were 
considered  precious,  were  made  into  votive  objects?  Among 
other  green  stones  used  by  the  ancient  Mexicans  were  green 
jasper,  green  plasma,  serpentine,  a  fine-graded  green  shale  and 
the  Tecali  marble,  which  was  often  of  such  a  rich  green  color 
that  at  a  glance  it  might  be  mistaken  for  jadeite. 

Dr.  Heinrich  Fischer,  who  gave  much  time  to  the  study  of 
this  subject,  endeavored  to  prove  that  the  jadeite  objects  found 
in  Mexico  and  Central  America  were  of  Asiatic  origin  and  were 
brought  to  this  continent  by  migration.  The  facts  above  men- 
tioned, in  connection  with  the  slicing  and  division  of  the  adze 
and  other  objects,  implying  a  scarcity  of  the  material,  and  the 
further  fact  that  Burmese  jadeite,  when  green,  if  exposed  to  a  high 
temperature,  assumes  the  brownish-green  color  presented  by 
some  of  the  Mexican  objects  when  subjected  to  the  same  pro- 
cess, all  tend  to  support  Dr.  Fischer's  theory.  On  the  other  hand 
Dr.  A.  B.  Meyer,  Director  of  the  Ethnological  Museum  at 
Dresden,  and  others,  firmly  believe  in  the  indigenous  character 
of  this  material.  In  support  of  this  the  following  reasons  are 
advanced :  First,  large  objects  such  as  celts,  entirely  devoid  of 
ornamentation,  are  occasionally  found.  Second,  that  objects 
sliced  from  celts  and  axes  have  been  found  which  were  subse- 
quently carved  and  ornamented,  as  if  the  beauty  and  durability  of 
the  material  had  been  recognized.  Third,  that  in  strings  of  beads 
one  or  more  made  of  jadeite,  not  forming  a  central  ornament, 
or  put  in  such  a  part  of  the  string  as  to  show  that  they  were  con- 
sidered of  more  importance  than  the  others,  but  apparently 
selected  for  their  size,  have  been  found.  Fourth,  it  is  also  probable 
that  the  Mexicans  never  knew  of  the  existence  of  the  true  veins 
of  this  mineral,  these  veins,  perhaps,  occurring  on  the  summits  of 
some  of  the  higher  mountains  and  the  material  used  by  the  na- 
tives being  found  in  the  form  of  boulders  and  fragments  in  the 
valley  below,  where  it  had  been  transported  by  the  mountain 


284  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

streams.  Fifth,  the  fact  that  jade  has  been  found  elsewhere  on 
the  continent  although  jadeite  has  not.  In  1884,  among  a  quan- 
tity of  things  sent  to  the  National  Museum  from  Point  Barrow, 
were  some  hammer-heads,  supposed  to  be  jade,  but,  on  analysis  by 
Prof.  Frank  W.  Clarke,  found  to  be  a  new  compact  variety  of  pecto- 
lite,1  with  a  specific  gravity  of  2  '8 73.  (See  Pectolite.)  Some  early 
writers  have  attributed  Alaskan  nephrite  to  Siberian  sources,  but 
four  or  five  years  ago  it  was  determined  to  be  of  native  origin. 
The  native  reports  assigned  as  its  source  a  place  known  as  Jade 
Mountain,  about  150  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Kowak  River, 
and  after  several  attempts  the  spot  was  visited  by  Lieut.  G.  M. 
Stoney,  U.  S.  N.,  who  collected  a  series  of  specimens.  The  mate- 
rial was  of  a  grayish-green  color  and  splintery  lamellar  struct- 
ure, one  variety  being  more  granular,  brownish  in  color,  and 
highly  foliated  in  form.  Sixth,  according  to  Bernardino  de 
Sahagun,  all  the  green  stones  of  the  Aztecs  were  simply  varieties 
of  the  chalchihuitl,  and  it  is  not  improbable,  as  has  been  supposed 
by  some,  that  jadeite,  like  turquoise,  was  one  of  the  varieties  of 
chalchihuitl,  and  perhaps  the  most  prized.  This  theory  has  been 
greatly  strengthened  during  the  last  ten  years,  and  especially  since 
Professor  Frederick  W.  Putnam  exhibited  his  remarkable  series 
of  Nicaraguan  and  Costa  Rican  jadeites  before  the  American 
Antiquarian  Society,  in  April,  1886. 

Professor  Clarke  and  George  P.  Merrill  concluded  their 
examination  of  the  Jade  Collection  in  the  United  States  National 
Museum  with  the  suggestions :  Confirmation  of  the  theory  that 
the  widely  scattered  jadeite  and  nephrite  objects  were  derived 
from  many  independent  sources,  and  are  of  no  value  whatever  in 
the  work  of  tracing  the  migration  and  intercommunication  of 
races,  lies  in  the  fact  that  these  substances  are  comparatively 
common  constituents  of  matamorphic  rocks,  and  hence  liable  to 
be  found  wherever  these  rocks  occur,  so  that  their  presence  is  as 
meaningless  as  would  be  the  presence  of  a  piece  of  graphite. 
The  natives  required  a  hard,  tough  substance,  capable  of  receiv- 
ing and  retaining  a  sharp  edge  and  a  polish,  and  took  it  wherever 
it  was  to  be  found. 

Rock  crystal  has  not,  in  our  time  at  least,  been  discovered, 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  28,  p.  20,  Jan.,  1884. 


UNITED   STATES,    CANADA   AND    MEXICO 


285 


in  Mexico  or  Central  America,  of  a  quality  or  in  sufficient 
quantity  to  be  of  much  use  in  the  arts,  yet  there  have  been  found 
a  number  of  interesting  prehistoric  objects  made  of  rock  crystal, 
—skulls  from  i  inch  to  7  inches  in  width,  crescents,  beads,  and 
other  articles, — of  which  the  material  is  excellent,  and  the  work- 
manship equal  to  anything  done  by  the  early  lapidaries.  Small 
skulls  are  in  the  Blake  Collection  at  the  United  States  National 
Museum,  the  Douglas  Collection,  New  York,  the  British  Museum, 
and  the  Trocadero  Museum.  (See  Fig.  14.)  A  large  skull,  now  in 


FIG.    14. 

ROCK  CRYSTAL  SKULL. 
TROCADfiRO   MUSEUM. 


the  possession  of  George  H.  Sisson  of  New  York,  is  very  remark- 
able. It  weighs  475!  Troy  ounces,  and  measures  210  millimeters  or 
1 8^  inches  in  length,  136  millimeters  or  1 5!  inches  in  width,  and  1 48 
centimeters  or  1 5^  inches  in  height.  The  eyes  are  deep  hollows  ; 
the  line  separating  the  upper  from  the  lower  row  of  teeth  has  evi- 
dently been  produced  by  a  wheel  made  to  revolve  by  a  string  held 
in  the  hand,  or  possibly  by  a  string  stretched  across  a  bow,  and 
is  very  characteristic  of  Mexican  work.  Little  is  known  of 
its  history  and  nothing  of  its  origin.  It  was  brought  from  Mex- 
ico by  a  Spanish  officer  sometime  before  the  French  occupation 


286 


GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES   IN   THE 


of  Mexico,  and  was  sold  to  an  English  collector,  at  whose  death 
it  passed  into  the  hands  of  E.  Boban,  of  Paris,  and  then  became 
the  property  of  Mr.  Sisson.  That  such  large  worked  objects  of 
rock  crystal  are  not  found  in  Mexico  might  lead  one  to  infer  its 
possible  Chinese  or  Japanese  origin.  But  it  is  evident  that  the 
workmanship  of  the  skull  is  not  Chinese  or  Japanese,  or  nature 
would  have  been  more  closely  copied ;  and  if  the  work  were  of 
European  origin,  it  would  undoubtedly  have  been  more  carefully 
finished  in  some  minor  details.  Prof.  Edward  S.  Morse  of 
Salem,  Mass.,  who  resided  in  Japan  for  several  years,  and  Tatui 
Baba  of  Japan,  now  of  New  York  City,  state  positively  that  this 
skull  is  not  of  Japanese  origin.  Mr.  Baba  gives  as  one  reason 
for  his  belief  that  the  Japanese 
would  never  cut  such  an  object  as 
a  skull  from  so  precious  a  material. 
In  ancient  Mexico  there  was  un- 
doubtedly a  veneration  for  skulls, 
for  we  find  not  only  small  skulls  of 
rock  crystal,  but  real  skulls,  notably 
the  one  in  the  Christy  Collection  in 
the  British  Museum,  incrusted  with 
turquoise,  and  it  may  have  been  one 
of  these  that  suggested  the  making 
of  this  skull,  the  one  at  the  Troca- 
dero  Museum,  and  the  smaller  one. 
Two  very  interesting  crescents  are 
known,  the  one  in  the  Trocadero  Museum  (see  Fig.  15),  the 
other  in  the  collection  of  Dr.  Maxwell  Sommerville,  in  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  New  York  City.  Beads  of  this 
material  are  sometimes  found  in  the  tombs  with  jadeite  and 
other  stone  beads.  They  rarely  have  a  diameter  of  an  inch. 

Rock  crystal  in  large  masses  has  been  reported  from  near 
Pachuca,  Hidalgo,  in  the  State  of  Michoacan,  and  in  veins 
near  La  Paz  in  Lower  California ;  the  center  of  the  vein  is  said 
to  be  beautifully  pellucid,  but  the  sides  are  opaque  white.  It  is 
not  known  whether  the  rock  crystal  used  by  the  aborigines  was 
obtained  at  a  Mexican  locality,  or  whether  it  came  from  Cala- 
veras  County,  Cal.,  where  masses  of  rock  crystal  are  found  con- 


CRESCENT    OF    ROCK    CRYSTAL    FROM    VALLEY   OF 
MEXICO,   TROCADERO   MUSEUM. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  287 

taining  vermicular  prochlorite  inclusions  identical  with  those 
observed  in  the  large  skull  described  above. 

The  amethysts  of  Guanajuato,  which  have  a  world-wide  repu- 
tation, are  found  in  large  quantities,  associated  with  pink  and  white 
apophyllite,  and  ranging  in  color  from  the  most  delicate  pink  to  the 
deepest  red.  The  crystals  are  frequently  light  in  color  at  the 
base,  but  very  much  darker  at  the  terminations.  Groups  a  foot 
across,  not  good  enough  to  cut  gems,  are  frequently  found ;  it  is 
certain  that  fine  amethysts  were  formerly  found  at  some  locality 
in  Mexico,  since  the  collections  contain  fine  objects  made  by  the 
Aztecs,  but  not  at  all  resembling  the  Guanajuato  mineral  either 
in  color  or  structure. 

Chalcedony,  agate,  jasper,  and  the  other  varieties  of  quartz  un- 
doubtedly exist  in  abundance  at  many  places  in  Mexico  and  Cen- 
tral America,  judging  from  the  numbers  of  objects,  such  as  beads, 
figures,  and  ornaments,  in  the  collections.  Some  finely  carved 
agate  figures  six  inches  in  length  are  in  the  Blake  Collection  in 
the  United  States  National  Museum,  and  similar  objects  exist  in 
the  collections  of  other  museums. 

The  opal,1  in  all  its  varieties,  is  found  in  Mexico  and  Cen- 
tral America,  the  noble  opal  occurring  more  frequently  in  Cen- 
tral America  than  in  Mexico.  The  opal  consists  principally  of 
silica,  differing  from  quartz,  however,  in  not  being  crystalline,  and 
in  containing  from  9  to  12  parts  of  water  in  100.  The  specific 
gravity  of  quartz  is  2*65,  of  opal  about  2 '2.  Quartz  has  a  hardness 
of  7,  and  opal  of  only  6  and  even  as  low  as  5*5. 

Noble  opal  is  the  harder  variety,  in  which  the  color  is  uni- 
formly distributed,  and  ranges  from  opaque  white  to  almost  the 
pellucidness  of  glass.  Fire  opal  or  girasol  is  the  variety  showing 
flashes  of  red  and  yellow,  green,  and  other  colors,  the  opal  itself 
ranging  from  colorless  to  white,  transparent  yellow,  reddish-brown 
to  almost  opaque,  and  is  usually  less  hard  than  the  noble  opal. 
The  name  lechosos  is  applied  by  the  Mexicans  to  the  variety 
showing  deep-green  flashes  of  color.  The  name  Harlequin  is 

1  Whatever  may  be  the  origin  of  the  widespread  notion  of  the  unluckiness  of  opal,  it  is  certain 
that  opal  was  the  favorite  gem  of  the  Romans,  even  in  their  palmiest  days.  Since  it  has  become 
known  that  Queen  Victoria  is  partial  to  it,  the  old  superstition,  which  it  is  said  may  be  traced 
to  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Anne  of  Geierstein,  is  slowly  yielding,  and  the  gem  has  gained  much  public 
favor  during  the  last  ten  years. 


288  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

applied  to  the  variety  in  which  the  patches  of  color  are  small, 
angular,  variously  tinted,  but  evenly  distributed.  Common  opal, 
so-called,  exhibits  no  play  of  color.  This  variety  is  found  of 
many  hues,  chiefly,  however,  milky,  rose-colored  (when  it  is 
called  quinzite),  and  green. 

Hyalite,  Muller's  glass,  is  the  name  applied  to  a  colorless, 
transparent,  jelly-like  variety,  usually  occurring  in  botryoidal 
masses.  Moss  opal  is  the  name  applied  when  the  variety  con- 
tains dendritic  marking ;  semi-opal  when  impure  ;  opal  agate  and 
opal  jasper  when  a  mixture  of  either  agate  and  opal  or  jasper  and 
opal ;  opalized  wood,  when  replacing  wood ;  and  hydrophane  when 
it  is  transparent,  or  exhibits  play  of  colors  on  being  wet. 

The  noble  opals  of  Honduras  are  often  exceedingly  beauti- 
ful, although  not  as  fine  or  as  durable  as  those  from  Hungary, 
which  are  the  finest  in  the  world,  and  the  most  valuable.  The 
Honduras  mines  are  little  worked,  and  the  opals  only  seldom 
reach  the  market  and  generally  in  an  uncut  state.  A  remark- 
able specimen  of  these  weighed  over  a  pound,  and  when  cut 
furnished  a  quantity  of  fine  stones,  some  of  the  finest  of  which 
are  in  the  collection  of  Dr.  A.  C.  Hamlin. 

The  best  description  of  the  Honduras  deposits  is  that  given 
by  Dr.  John  L.  LeConte,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  who,  in  a  report 
which  he  made  on  his  return,  says  :  "  Extensive  beds  of  common 
opal  and  semi-opal  are  seen  along  the  belts  extending  through 
the  central  part  of  the  Department  of  Gracias.  The  localities 
worthy  of  exploration  are  those  in  which  the  opal  forms  veins, 
not  beds,  in  compact  but  brittle  trachyte  of  a  dark  color.  The 
veins,  as  will  be  seen,  are  not  confined  to  such  rocks,  but  seem 
to  have  their  origin  in  it,  and  probably  are  not  found  except  in 
connection  with  it.  The  best  known  mines  of  precious  opal  are 
in  the  Department  of  Gracias ;  several  localities  have  yielded 
valuable  gems,  but  they  are  all  remote  from  the  line  of  road. 
Some  are  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town  of  Gracias,  others  near  In- 
tibucat ;  but  the  most  important  ones  are  at  Erandique.  The 
working  is  now  carried  on  in  a  very  small  way,  but  the  locality  is 
extensive,  and  in  the  opinion  of  Dr.  LeConte,  mining  on  a  large 
scale  would  be  attended  with  profit. 

The  country  near  by  abounds  with  common  opal,   but  the 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  289 

gems  occur  in  somewhat  irregular  veins  running  in  a  northeast 
and  southwest  direction,  and  with  a  nearly  perpendicular  dip. 
The  veins  are  not  continuous,  but  branch  off  and  disappear  at 
short  intervals ;  neither  are  the  contents  of  uniform  quantity,  but 
the  valuable  parts  are  usually  in  belts  in  the  vein,  and  limited  on 
each  side  by  portions  of  ordinary  opal  without  play  of  colors. 
These  lines  of  light  are  sometimes  numerous  and  narrow,  alter- 
nating with  the  common  opal,  forming  a  very  beautiful  gem. 
Many  again,  even  of  large  size,  are  uniform  in  structure,  and  ex- 
hibit as  brilliant  a  play  of  colors  as  do  the  finest  opals  from 
Hungary.  The  hill  where  they  are  found  is  about  250  feet 
high,  and  two  or  three  miles  in  length,  and  for  the  width  of 
half  a  mile  for  its  whole  length  opals  have  been  found 
wherever  excavations  have  been  made.  The  rock  in  which  they 
occur  is  a  hard,  brittle  trachyte  with  a  vitreous  lustre,  splintering 
into  acute  fragments  when  struck.  A  bed  several  feet  in  thick- 
ness overlying  this  rock,  of  a  gray  color  and  soft  consistency, 
probably  a  trachyte  changed  by  atmospheric  action,  also  contains 
opal  veins.  Other  localities  within  two  leagues  of  Erandique 
have  furnished  fine  opals,  but  as  they  are  not  now  worked,  Dr. 
LeConte  did  not  visit  them.  Many  places  between  Intibucatand 
Las  Pedras  appear  favorable  to  the  existence  of  opal  mines, 
but  these  can  be  discovered  only  by  careful  scrutiny  of  a  number 
of  explorers.  As  most  worthy  of  future  attention,  the  vicinity  of 
Le  Pasale  and  of  Yucusapa  and  the  ascent  of  the  great  mountain 
of  Santa  Rosa  may  be  mentioned.  Almost  certain  success  will 
attend  the  search  for  opal  mines  in  the  valley  leading  from  Tambla 
towards  the  pass  of  Guayoca,  nearly  on  the  line  of  the  proposed 
road.  Within  half  a  mile  of  Tambla  are  immense  beds  of  common 
opal  of  various  shades  of  color.  Near  Guayoca  are  banded  opals 
of  alternate  layers  of  opaque  and  semi-transparent  white,  having 
the  appearance  of  onyx.  They  occur  in  a  red,  vitreous  trachyte, 
and  sometimes  in  contact  with  the  masses  of  petrified  wood  which 
strew  the  ground  for  a  considerable  distance.  Veins  of  a  pearl- 
colored  opal,  with  red  reflections,  are  also  found  here.  They  have 
no  commercial  value,  but  serve  as  indications  of  better  things  in 
the  neighborhood.  Between  the  two  localities  mentioned,  near 
Tambla  and  about  Guayoca,  W.  W.  Wright,  chief  assistant  of 


290  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

the  Survey,  by  following  some  obscure  indications,  discovered  a 
vein  of  very  pretty  glassy  opals  and  yellow  fire-opals,  not  of  great 
value,  but  serving  to  strengthen  the  general  belief  in  the  ultimate 
discovery  of  precious  opals  in  the  vicinity.  Near  Choluteca  are 
found  fire-opals,  some  of  which  possess  merit.  One,  not  of  the 
best,  is  precisely  similar  to  those  obtained  by  Mr.  Wright  near 
Tambla.  Within  one  league  of  Goascoran  is  a  mine  producing 
opals  with  a  good  play  of  color.  Another  remarkable  deposit  of 
opal  was  found  by  Mr.  Wright  about  five  miles  east  of  Villa  San 
Antonio  in  the  plains  of  Comayagua,  which  though  not  of  high 
value,  may  be  used  for  ornamental  purposes,  being  of  a  fine  red 
color  with  transparent  amethystine  bands.  It  occurs  in  veins  of 
gray  porphyry,  sometimes  several  inches  in  thickness,  and  may 
be  procured  in  large  quantities. 

Dr.  -  LeConte  had  a  favorable  opportunity  to  purchase  a 
series  of  fine  opals,  which  he  did,  and  these  still  remain  in  the 
possession  of  his  family.  From  the  fact  that  parcels  of  opals  are 
occasionally  brought  to  the  large  cities  by  Indians,  it  may  be  con- 
sidered certain  that  there  are  many  mines  in  Honduras  and  other 
parts  of  Central  America,  and  future  investigation  may  show 
that  an  opal  belt  exists  that  extends  from  Mexico  southward 
perhaps  to  Central  America. 

The  opals  of  Mexico  are  well  known  throughout  the  world, 
although  they  do  not  rank  in  value,  and  often  not  in  durability, 
with  those  from  Hungary.  Del  Rio  mentions  that  in  1802  in 
Zimapan,  near  the  sanctuary  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo,  in  a  red 
trachytic  porphyry,  fire-opals  were  found  in  abundance,  the  color 
of  the  opal  being  a  hyacinth  red  ;  and  the  same  variety  of  opal 
is  mentioned  by  Sonnenschmidt  as  occurring  in  the  mine  of  Toli- 
man,  in  a  trachytic  conglomerate.  John  Mawe1  mentions  these 
opals  in  his  work  on  precious  stones,  published  in  1812,  as  having 
been  sent  to  England  in  quantities  at  that  time.  The  fire-opal  still 
occurs  in  its  greatest  perfection  in  the  porphyritic  rocks  at  Zima- 
pan in  Mexico.  It  is  generally  of  a  translucent  hyacinth-red  or 
topaz  color,  and  flashes  forth  dazzling  beams  of  fiery  carmine-red, 
with  yellow  and  green  reflections  of  more  or  less  intensity.  When 
these  opals  are  still  in  the  compact  red  porphyry,  they  form  ob- 

1  A  Treatise  on  Diamonds  and  Precious  Stones  (London,  1812). 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  29! 

jects  of  remarkable  beauty,  the  flashes  of  red,  green,  yellow, 
and  blue  color  intermingling  as  the  light  falls  on  them.  A 
beautiful  opal  was  exhibited  by  the  Mexican  Commission,  at 
the  World's  Fair  held  at  Philadelphia  in  1876,  and  was  very 
greatly  admired  by  visitors. 

An  opal  from  Zimapan,  Mexico,  was  analyzed  by  Klaproth, 
with  the  following  result : 

Silica 92-00 

Peroxide  of  Iron 0-25 

Water 775 

The  noble  opals  at  Esperanza  are  remarkable  for  the  extent 
and  intensity  of  their  reflections.  The  harlequin  opals  are  noted 
for  the  diversity  and  the  small  size  of  their  colored  spots,  which 
form  beautiful  miniature  mosaics.  One  of  the  most  pleasing  va- 
rieties has  a  play  of  red  fire  like  the  red  variety  from  Zimapan, 
and  mingled  with  it  flashes  of  brilliant  metallic  emerald-green, 
and  occasionally  a  violet-blue  of  remarkable  intensity.  One  of 
the  red  varieties  from  the  Rosario  Mine,  on  the  hill  of  Jurado, 
has  a  violet-blue  reflection  of  peculiar  beauty ;  and  the  same 
mine  produced  a  variety  with  a  metallic  emerald-green  and  a 
dark  ultramarine  color  combined,  or  rather  showing,  one  after  the 
other.  The  lechosos  opals,  as  those  with  the  red  and  green  re- 
flections are  called  in  Mexico,  are  very  common  on  the  hill  of 
Peineta,  and  less  plentiful  in  the  other  mines  of  Queretaro.  The 
opal  mines  of  Esperanza  are  situated  ten  leagues  northwest  of 
San  Juan  del  Rio,  in  the  State  of  Queretaro,  and  are  very  exten- 
sive, having  been  traced  over  a  district  thirty  leagues  long  and 
twenty  leagues  wide.  They  were  discovered  in  1835,  on  the 
landed  estates  on  which  they  are  situated,  by  a  farm  laborer. 
It  was  1870  before  a  settlement  was  made  on  the  edge  of 
the  mountain  Ceja  de  Leon,  by  Jose  Maria  Siurob,  near  the 
present  mine  of  "  Santa  Maria  Iris."  In  1873  Dr.  Mariano  de  la 
Barcena1  made  a  special  report  on  this  opal  district,  in  which  he 
states  that  he  has  discovered  ten  veins,  or  mines,  as  they  are 
called.  He  says  :  "  The  opals  of  Esperanza  are  found  forming 
chains  more  or  less  regular,  on  the  banks  of  porphyry  in  quartz 
which  forms  its  base,  or  disseminated  through  the  mass  of  the 

1  Am.  J.  Sci.  III.,  Vol.  6,  p.  466,  Dec.,  1873. 


292  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES    IN    THE 

same  rock.  Veins  of  porphyry  are  met  with  in  regular  banksr 
which  in  many  cases  preserve  the  same  constant  direction  as  on 
the  hill  of  Ceja  de  Leon,  southeast  to  northwest.  The  porphyry 
is  of  a  grayish-red  color,  although  in  some  parts  it  is  lighter 
colored,  changing  into  a  reddish-white,  even  on  the  surface  where 
it  is  altered.  The  aspect  of  the  porphyry  indicates  generally  the 
class  of  opals  it  contains.  Where  the  rock  is  brick-red  in  color, 
compact  and  hard,  the  varieties  with  a  fiery-red  color  abound,, 
also  the  color  combined  with  red,  formed  from  different  change- 
able colors,  or  rather  a  mixture  of  colors.  However,  where  the 
porphyry  is  lighter  colored  and  mottled,  noble  opals  are  found  more 
abundantly,  notably  in  the  mines  situated  on  the  hill  of  Peineta."" 
These  mines  are  remarkable  for  their  richness  and  the  variety  of 
their  product.  In  a  single  piece  of  rock,  from  the  mine  of  Sim- 
patica,  Dr.  Barcena  found  noble  opal,  fire  opal,  harlequin  opal,  and 
the  lechosos  opal.  One  of  the  mines  at  which  the  greatest  amount 
of  work  has  been  done  is  the  Jurado.  Here  an  excavation  fully 
150  feet  deep,  100  feet  wide,  and  several  hundred  feet  long  has 
been  made,  and  at  the  depth  of  150  feet  the  porphyritic  rock 
contains  an  abundance  of  hydrated  silica  and  common  opal.  A 
deposit  of  opal  was  discovered  in  1851  on  the  brow  of  the  hill  of 
the  Navajas,  at  a  place  called  Tepezala,  by  Juan  Orozca  and  Juan 
Hill,  two  pupils  of  the  Mexican  School  of  Mines.  'These  were 
fire-opals,  in  a  conglomerate  consisting  for  the  greater  part  of 
trachytic  porphyry.  In  the  borough  of  Tepoentitlan,  in  the 
district  of  San  Nicholas  del  Ora,  and  near  Huitzuco,  both  in  the 
State  of  Guerrero,  fire-opals  are  also  found,  either  light  topaz- 
yellow  in  color,  with  green,  red,  and  yellow  reflections,  or  white 
changing  into  reflections.  Common  and  fire-opals  have  also  been 
observed  north  of  San  Luis  Potosi,  on  the  ridge  of  Mount 
Mezquitic,  and  an  opal  district  of  considerable  extent  has  been 
observed  on  the  Ciervo  estate,  three  leagues  south  of  Cadereita, 
and  fourteen  leagues  from  Esperanza.  A  quantity  of  semi-opals, 
cacholong,  and  hyalite  has  been  obtained  here,  but  no  true  opal. 
In  this  locality,  the  hills  are  of  porphyry,  yet  the  opal-bearing- 
rock  is  readily  detected  by  the  appearance  of  the  soil  which 
covers  it.  In  the  district  of  Amealco,  in  the  State  of  Quere- 
taro,  opals  were  observed  on  the  Batan,  Galindo,  and  Lallare 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  293 

properties.  Dr.  Manuel  Gutierrez  says  of  these  that  on  the 
hills  of  the  El  Astillero  estate,  which  is  in  the  jurisdiction  of 
Contepec,  and  in  the  State  of  Michoacan,  were  discovered  some 
very  rich  beds  of  opals,  but  D.  Jose  Maria  Siurob  of  Queretaro, 
the  owner  of  the  Esperanza  mines,  his  informant,  did  not  give 
him  more  definite  particulars. 

At  present  (1889)  only  one  mine  is  being  worked  by  the 
owner  of  six  of  the  largest  mines.  The  rock  containing  opal 
is  brought  to  the  city  of  Queretaro,  a  distance  of  twenty-five 
leagues,  and  about  twenty  lapidaries  are  continually  employed  in 
cutting  and  polishing  the  stone.  The  miners  receive  an  average 
of  twenty-five  cents  a  day  and  the  polishers  an  average  of 
seventy-three  cents  for  their  work. 

The  noble  opals  found  in  Mexico  generally  exist  (unfortu- 
nately) only  in  thin  layers,  between  or  upon  layers  of  common 
opal,  without  any  play  of  fire.  Often  only  one-half  or  two-thirds 
of  the  cavity  which  contains  this  variety  is  filled  with  opal,  and 
It  generally  shows  stratified  layers,  like  an  onyx.  A  layer  of 
hyalite  is  often  present  on  the  upper  layer,  or  else  the  opal  is 
very  smooth,  the  opal  coating  being  thin,  with  a  very  strong  play 
of  color,  usually  too  thin  to  be  polished.  Both  of  these  varieties 
of  opal  exist  in  great  abundance  in  Mexico,  and  many  thousand 
stones  are  sent  to  Germany  to  be  remounted  in  the  cheaper  class 
of  jewelry.  Thousands  are  annually  sold  to  visitors  to  the  cities 
of  Mexico,  Queretaro,  and  at  railroad  stations  in  Mexico,  and 
in  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona  in  the  United  States. 

The  fire-opal  is  perhaps  the  most  gorgeous  of  all  varieties  of 
the  opal,  and  it  is  also  the  most  sensitive.  It  is  frequently  in- 
jured by  water  or  exposure  or  by  sudden  atmospheric  changes ; 
indeed,  so  easily  affected  are  fire-opals  by  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
weather  that  they  are  believed  to  be  brighter  in  summer  than  in 
winter,  though  this  difference  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
light  is  better  and  the  weather  is  warmer  in  summer.  Some  vari- 
eties are  not  so  easily  influenced,  however,  and  are  not  injured 
by  contact  with  water.  Stones  have  been  known  to  lose  their 
brilliancy  even  when  removed  from  the  influence  of  atmos- 
pheric changes ;  when  wrapped  in  paper,  and  placed  in  a  jeweler's 
iron  safe,  or  in  the  drawers  of  a  collector's  cabinet,  they  have  lost 


2Q4  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES    IN  THE 

their  color,  or  become  entirely  filled  with  fissures,  more  especially 
the  very  limpid  varieties  with  the  flames  of  color.  Often  the 
stones,  with  only  a  small  loss  of  color,  have  become  entirely 
flawed,  the  cracks  being  such  as  to  render  the  stones  unfit  for 
setting,  since  they  are  liable  to  break. 

Dr.  Augustus  C.  Hamlin1  gives  the  two  following  illus- 
trations of  the  loss  of  fire  in  opals :  "A  traveller  from  Cen- 
tral America  brought  home  a  splendid  rough  fire-opal  which 
dazzled  the  eye  with  its  fiery  reflections.  It  was  taken  to 
an  honest  lapidary,  who  received  it  with  a  doubtful  look. 
The  next  day  the  opal  was  returned,  having  been  shaped 
into  the  usual  oval  form,  but  only  faint  gleams  of  any  of  the 
colored  rays  flashed  from  its  surface  or  the  interior.  '  Is  this 
the  gem  which  was  given  you  yesterday  ? '  was  demanded  of  the 
artisan.  With  a  smile  the  lapidary  took  the  transparent  stone, 
and  roughened  its  finely  polished  surface  upon  the  wooden  wheel. 
In  an  instant  the  lost  fire  returned,  as  if  directed  by  magic's 
wand.  The  perfect  transparency  of  the  gem,  with  its  high  pol- 
ish, had  allowed  the  rays  to  pass  directly  through  it,  and  there 
was  but  little  refraction,  but  on  roughening  the  surface  the  light 
was  interrupted,  and  the  peculiar  property  of  the  mineral  dis- 
played. Unfortunately  the  lesson  was  not  concluded  here.  At 
the  last  touch  of  the  wheel  the  beautiful  gem  flew  into  two  parts, 
and  its  glories  departed  in  an  instant.  Saddened  with  the  day's 
experience,  the  two  fragments  were  taken,  cemented  together, 
and  tossed  into  a  drawer  which  contained  other  mineral  speci- 
mens of  no  great  value.  Some  months  after,  when  searching  for 
a  misplaced  mineral,  a  gleam  of  light  suddenly  flashed  out  as  the 
drawer  was  again  opened.  It  was  the  neglected  and  abused 
opal,  which  now  gleamed  with  the  energy  of  a  living  coal  of  fire. 
It  had  recovered  its  beautiful  reflections,  and  still  adorns,  not- 
withstanding its  fracture,  a  most  cherished  jewel.  Whence  this 
mysterious  change?  the  reader  may  ask.  It  can  only  be  said 
that  the  complete  transparency  of  the  stone  had  been  lessened, 
and  perhaps  the  change  was  due  to  the  action  of  some  of  the  in- 
gredients of  the  cement  with  which  the  fragments  of  the  broken 
gem  were  united." 

1  Leisure  Hours  Among  the  Gems,  8vo.,  Boston,  1884. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  295 

Many  of  the  Mexican  and  some  of  the  Central  American 
opals  have  the  reputation  of  fading  and  becoming  translucent,  or 
opaque,  or  cracking  in  course  of  time,  according  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  exposure. 

Dr.  Hamlin's  second  instance  illustrates  this  :  "A  few  years 
ago,  some  Spaniards  arrived  in  New  York  with  a  bag  of  rough 
opals  brought  from  Central  America,  but  from  what  particular 
locality  we  never  learned.  The  specimens  varied  from  the  size 
of  a  bean  to  that  of  an  English  walnut,  and  were  extremely 
beautiful.  They  had  a  fresh  appearance,  as  though  they  had 
been  recently  extracted  from  the  mines,  and  many  of  them  had 
portions  of  the  soft,  sandy  matrix  still  attached  to  them.  They 
excited  suspicions  of  not  having  been  properly  tempered  and 
hardened  by  exposure.  But  their  beauty,  which  reminded  one  of 
the  perfect  glowworm,  or  lumps  of  phosphorus  moistened  with 
oil,  did  not  allow  the  spectator  to  hesitate  about  the  purchase  of 
them,  especially  as  they  were  offered  at  a  moderate  price.  We 
invested  in  the  purchase  of  several  charming  ones,  and  never 
wearied  in  examining  their  exquisite  effects.  Still  we  felt  a  vague 
suspicion  of  the  enduring  qualities  of  our  newly  acquired  treas- 
ures. The  most  beautiful  stone,  the  size  of  a  small  almond,  we 
carried  in  our  pocket  for  a  long  time,  not  only  for  our  gratifica- 
tion, but  for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  effect  of  the  atmosphere 
upon  its  reflections.  Soon  after  the  acquisition,  we  fancied  a 
slight  shadow,  or  nebulosity,  appearing  in  one  end  of  the  stone. 
We  carefully  watched  it,  and  before  long  an  indistinct  cloudiness 
began  to  appear,  like  the  dim  and  distant  haze  of  a  summer  sky 
on  the  commencement  of  a  storm.  Even  then,  we  thought  it 
might  be  mere  fancy  on  our  part.  But  when  the  shadow  changed 
to  opacity,  and  the  transparency  of  the  gem,  with  its  beautiful  re- 
flections, vanished  never  to  return,  we  were  compelled  to  admit 
that  even  substances  of  the  mineral  kingdom  had  their  diseases, 
as  well  as  forms  of  the  organic  world.  This  is  indeed  but  one 
example  to  illustrate  a  theory,  but  most  of  those  we  purchased  at 
that  time  of  the  Spaniards  have  altered  in  appearance,  and  some 
of  them  quite  as  seriously.  Wherefore,  we  have  arrived  at  the 
conclusion  that  recently  mined  opals  should  be  bought  with  cau- 
tion, and  that  the  perfection  of  a  rough  opal  as  a  gem  cannot  be 


296  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

safely  estimated  until  after  it  has  been  cut  by  the  lapidary." 
Possibly  these  opals  had  been  soaked  in  oil,  a  device  which 
is  sometimes  practised  to  improve  or  restore  the  color. 

About  one  hundred  natives  work  the  Esperanza  mines  in  a 
desultory  manner.  The  opals  are  nearly  all  cut  at  three  cutting 
establishments,  in  the  city  of  Queretaro.  The  cutting  is  done  in 
the  rudest  manner,  by  native  lapidaries,  who  neither  give  the 
stones  a  good  shape  nor  polish  them  properly ;  hence  they  rarely 
show  their  true  beauty,  and  very  few  are  sent  out  of  Mexico  to 
be  cut.  Fully  50,000  are  cut  annually,  and  this  amount  could  be 
doubled  should  the  demand  exist.  Occasionally,  when  the  color 
is  thick  enough,  they  show  an  intensity  of  color — often  only  one 
color,  such  as  red,  green,  or  yellow — not  rivalled  even  by  the 
Hungarian  stones,  and  the  Mexican  opal  in  all  its  varieties  is 
often  purchased  with  the  hope  of  realizing  for  them  an  equal 
value.  The  prices  asked  vary  from  a  few  cents  to  upward 
of  $100.  Lots  of  thousands  are  often  sold  for  less  than  ten 
cents  each,  occasionally  exceptional  stones  selling  for  $100, 
rarely  for  more.  A  beautiful  series  of  opals  exhibited  by  the 
Mexican  Commission  at  the  World's  Fair  held  in  Paris  during 
1889,  consisted  of  noble  and  fire-opals.  One  large  stone  with 
superb  pink  flames  was  especially  beautiful. 

A  remarkable  fire-opal  was  brought  home  from  Mexico  by 
Alexander  von  Humboldt,  and  is  still  preserved  in  the  Berlin 
Mineral ogical  Museum. 

The  Spanish  historians,  in  their  marvellous  stories  of  the 
wonders  seen  in  Mexico  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest,  describe  the 
image  of  the  mystic  deity,  Quetzalcoatl — God  of  the  Air — on  the 
great  pyramid  of  Cholula,  as  wearing  a  mitre  waving  with  plumes 
of  fire,  an  effect  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  produced  by 
masses  of  mosaics  of  fire-opal.  A  well-known  Mexican  opal  is  the 
one  sold  in  the  collection  formed  by  Henry  Philip  Hope.1  It  was 
a  Mexican  fire-opal,  or  sun-opal,  as  it  was  called,  carved 
with  the  head  of  the  great  Mexican  Sun  God,  and  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  taken  from  a  Persian  temple.  It  has  been 
known  since  the  sixteenth  century,  and  brought  ^262  at  the  sale 
of  the  Hope  jewels  in  London  in  1886.  With  the  fire-opal  is  also 

1  Catalogue  Hope  Collection,  plate  xxxi,  fig.  3,  p.  3  (London,  1839). 


POLISHED   FIGURES   OF   OBSIDIAN    FROM   MEXICO 

UNITED  STATES  NATIONAL  MUSEUM.      HALF  NATURAL  SIZE 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  297 

found  the  variety  known  as  hydrophane.  In  this  form  the  opal 
is  generally  white  or  dull  yellow  in  color,  but  when  it  is  wet,  it 
becomes  transparent,  often  brilliant  in  color.  This  variety 
often  absorbs  almost  an  equal  bulk  of  water  before  it  is  fully 
saturated.  It  has  no  value  as  a  gem,  although  often  an  object 
of  very  great  beauty. 

A  beautiful  variety  of  opal  agate  is  found  in  the  State  of  Ja- 
lisco. Pink,  yellow,  and  green,  especially  the  softer  shades,  occur 
and  are  blended  and  veined  in  the  most  pleasing  manner.  It 
exists  in  considerable  quantity,  and  is  valued  as  a  decorative 
stone  for  metal  work  or  jewelry. 

Obsidian  is  abundant  on  the  hill  of  the  Navajas  in  Pachuca, 
in  Tulancingo,  in  Ucareo,  State  of  Michoacan,  in  Penjamo,  and 
on  the  landed  property  of  Pateo,  belonging  to  the  same  State. 
In  Magdalena  village,  in  the  State  of  Jalisco,  in  Cardereita  Men- 
dez,  in  the  State  of  Queretaro,  and  in  many  other  parts  of  Mex- 
ico it  is  found  in  a  variety  of  colors,  such  as  golden,  silvery, 
black,  bluish,  greenish,  or  reddish.  The  included  crystals  which 
the  obsidian  contains  often  give  this  mineral  a  double  color,  the 
one  black,  the  other  chatoyant,  either  yellow,  greenish-gray,  or 
white,  and  always  at  right  angles  to  the  black.  This  stone  holds 
an  important  place  in  the  archaeology  of  Mexico.  Obsidian  was 
most  extensively  used  in  Mexico,  before  the  empire  of  the  Aztecs 
succumbed  to  the  Spanish  invaders.  The  old  obsidian  mines  are 
still  to  be  seen  on  the  Cerro  de  Navajas,  or  "  Hill  of  Knives," 
which  is  situated  in  a  northeasterly  direction  from  the  City  of 
Mexico,  at  some  distance  from  the  Indian  town  Atotonilco  el 
Grande.  These  mines  provided  the  ancient  population  of  Mex- 
ico with  vast  quantities  of  the  much-prized  stone,  of  which  they 
made  double-edged  knives,  arrows,  and  spear-heads,  mirrors,  skil- 
fully executed  masks,  and  ornaments  of  various  kinds.  Hum- 
boldt  speaks  of  the  Hill  of  Knives.1  For  a  precise  description 
we  are  indebted  to  Edward  B.  Tyler,"  who  visited  that  interesting 
locality  in  1856,  while  traveling  through  Mexico  in  company  with 
Mr.  Christy.  Besides  many  facts  relating  to  the  archae- 
ology and  ethnology  of  Mexico,  this  writer  furnishes  the  best  ob- 

1  Essai  politique  sur  la  Nouvelle-Espagne,  Vol.  3,  p.  122. 

*  Anahuac  :  or,  Mexico  and  the  Mexicans,  Ancient  and  Modern  (London,  1861). 


298  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

servations  on  obsidian  from  that  country.  Describing  the  mines, 
he  says:  "  Some  of  the  trachytic  porphyry  which  forms  the  sub- 
stance of  the  hills  had  happened  to  have  cooled,  under  suitable 
conditions,  from  the  molten  state  into  a  sort  of  slag,  or  volcanic 
glass,  which  is  the  obsidian  in  question  ;  and  in  places,  this  vitre- 
ous lava,  from  one  layer,  having  flowed  over  another  which  was 
already  cool,  it  became  regularly  stratified.  The  mines  were 
mere  walls,  not  very  deep,  with  horizontal  workings  into  the 
obsidian,  where  it  was  very  good  and  in  thick  layers.  Round 
about  were  heaps  of  fragments,  hundreds  of  tons  of  them ;  and  it 
is  clear,  from  the  shape  of  these,  that  some  of  the  manufacturing 
was  done  on  the  spot.  There  had  been  great  numbers  of  pits 
worked,  and  it  was  from  these  little  mines — minillas,  as  they  are 
called — that  we  first  got  an  idea  how  important  an  element  this 
obsidian  was  in  the  old  Aztec  civilization.  In  excursions  made 
since,  we  traveled  over  whole  districts  in  the  plains  where  frag- 
ments of  these  arrows  and  knives  were  to  be  found  literally  at 
every  step,  mixed  with  fragments  of  pottery,  and  here  and  there 
a  little  clay  idol." 

From  the  center  of  the  State  of  Ohio  to  the  country  of  the 
Shoshones,  as  well  as  the  Rio  Gila,  and  the  mines  in  Mexico, 
the  straight  distances  are  almost  equal,  measuring  about  seven- 
teen hundred  English  miles  ;  indeed  the  Mexican  mines  are  a 
little  nearer  to  Ohio  than  the  other  districts.  It  would  be  idle, 
therefore,  to  speculate  from  which  of  these  localities  the  obsidian 
found  in  Ohio  and  Tennessee  was  derived.  The  number  of  ar- 
ticles of  this  stone  that  have  been  met  with  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi is  so  exceedingly  small  that  its  technical  significance  hardly 
deserves  any  consideration.  Two  large  obsidian  knives,  about 
1 8  inches  long,  found  in  Mexico  and  of  Mexican  origin,  and 
almost  identical  in  appearance,  are  marvels  for  their  fine  chip- 
ping. They  are  to  be  seen,  one  in  the  United  States  National 
Museum  at  Washington  (see  Illustration),  and  one  in  the  Tro- 
cadero  Collection  in  Paris.  Lip-ornaments,  mirrors,  and  other 
objects  are  to  be  found  in  the  United  States  National  Museum, 
in  the  National  Museum  in  City  of  Mexico,  the  Trocadero 
Museum  at  Paris,  the  Archaeological  Collection  of  the  British 
Museum,  London,  and  M.  Goupil's  collection  at  Paris.  A 


OBSIDIAN    KNIFE    FROM   TEPOXTLAN,    MEXICO 

UNITED   STATES   NATIONAL   MUSEUM 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA   AND    MEXICO 


299 


number  of  the  finest  known  mirror  and  engraved  plaques  of 
obsidian  are  in  the  Trocadero  Museum.  A  square  one  from 
Texcoco,  measuring  9^x8^x1^  inches  (24  x  21  i  x  3  centi- 
meters), and  a  round  one,  convex  on  one  side,  from  Oaxaca, 
6i  inches  (16  centimeters)  in  diameter  (see  Fig.  16),  are  both 
wonderful  pieces  of  primitive  stone  work.  The  one  possessing 
the  greatest  archaeological  interest  is  the  square  plaque  described 
by  the  director,  Dr.  E. 
Hamy,1  on  which  is  the 
inscription  "Ypanquetza- 
litzli  4  acatl "  (9th  Decem- 
ber, 1483),  the  date  of  the 
laying  of  the  first  stone  of  the 
Great  Temple  of  Mexico. 
The  polished  carved  figures 
are  exceedingly  interesting. 
(See  Illustration.) 

The  richly  mottled  red 
and  black,  brown  and  black, 
and  yellow  and  black  ob- 
sidian, called  marekanite,  is 
found  in  large  quantities  in 
the  State  of  Jalisco,  gener- 
ally in  sufficiently  large 
masses  to  be  useful  as  a  dec- 
orative stone,  since  it  admits 
of  polish.  Associated  with 
it  in  quantity  is  pearlite, 
or  sphserulite,  which  shows 
reddish-brown  spherules  in  a  gray  matrix.  Pitchstone  exists  in 
quantity  with  it. 

Pyrite  which  is  really  a  mixture  of  pyrite  in  cubes  and 
marcasite  in  plates,  as  determined  by  Dr.  Alexis  A.  Julien" — was 
worked  by  the  ancient  Aztecs  into  mirrors  and  other  objects. 
The  mirrors  were  generally  semicircular  on  one  side,  and  pol- 
ished flat  on  the  other  side,  and  the  polish  is  often  still  preserved. 

1  Revue  <T  Ethnographic,  Vol.  2,  p.  193,  1883. 

8  Ann.  N.  Y.  Acad.  Sci.,  Vol.  3,  p.  365,  1886  and  Vol.  4,  p.  125,  1887. 


FIG.   16. 

OBSIDIAN    MIRROR,   FROM   OAXACA,   MEXICO. 
PINARD   COLLECTION,    TROCADERO   MUSEUM. 


300 


GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 


The  rounded  side  was  often  curiously  carved  and  decorated.  (See 
Fig.  1 7.)  They  also  carved  pyrite  into  other  objects,  notably  a 
human  head  2  inches  high,  in  which  were  inserted  eyes  of  white 
chalcedony,  now  in  the  Blake  Collection  in  the  United  States  Na- 
tional Museum,  and  a  number  of  mirrors,  now  in  the  Trocadero 
Museum,  Paris.  (See  Fig.  17.) 


'''I'MiJilililiiili^!?®!-:^ 
';•;;:  •/^:Vv-f|f':::KS'i^::S?^ 


CARVED  SURFACE. 


FIG.    17. 


POLISHED    SURFACE. 


MIRROR   OF   IRON    PYRITK,   VALLEY   OF   MEXICO. 
PINARD    COLLECTION,   TROCADERO   MUSEUM. 


Mexican  onyx,  so  called,  is  really  an  aragonite.  Prof. 
Mariano  Barcena,  of  the  Mexican  Commission  to  the  World's 
Fair  held  in  Philadelphia  during  1876,  has  recently  published  an 
account  of  its  occurrence  and  chemical  character.1  The  principal 
deposits  are  located  near  the  town  of  Tecali  in  the  State  of  Pueblo. 
It  is  essentially  a  carbonate  of  calcium,  containing  small  quantities 
of  the  oxides  of  iron  and  manganese,  to  which  are  due  the  varie- 
gated colors  for  which  the  rock  is  so  much  admired.  The  specific 
gravity,  2*9,  shows  that  it  is  aragonite.  It  was  extensively  used  by 
the  ancient  Mexicans,  specimens  of  whose  handiwork  we  still  have 
preserved  in  our  museums  in  the  form  of  masks,  idols,  and  a  vari- 
ety of  objects.  The  softness  of  the  material  (it  can  be  readily  carved 
with  a  knife)  has  tempted  some  of  the  modern  residents  of  Mex- 

1  The  Rocks  Known  as  Mexican  Onyx,  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  Phila.,  Vol.  28,  p.  166,  1876. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA   AND    MEXICO  30 1 

ico  to  imitate  the  ancient  objects,  to  meet  the  demand  of  visitors 
to  that  country.  This  material  is  entirely  stalagmatic  in  its  for- 
mation, and  yellow-brown  and  red  oxides  of  iron  have  been  de- 
posited between  the  layers.  It  is  generally  cut  across  the  layers, 
which  gives  it  a  beautiful  veined  appearance.  When  it  is  cut  in 
the  same  direction  as  the  deposition,  the  botryoidal  structure  is 
well  shown,  the  mineral  being  so  translucent  that  the  markings 
resemble  colored  clouds.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  orna- 
mental stones  of  any  age,  and  has  been  used  extensively  for  or- 
namental purposes  in  Europe  as  well  as  in  the  United  States, 
where  it  was  first  introduced  about  1876,  when  it  brought  about 
ten  times  its  present  price.  The  natives  in  the  vicinity  of  Pueblo 
sell  large  quantities  of  this  material,  made  into  trays,  crucifixes, 
reliquaries,  inkstands,  penholders,  paper-folders,  and  paper- 
weights, in  the  form  of  single  fruits  or  bunches  of  fruit,  fish,  or 
other  natural  objects,  which  are  copied,  not  only  with  regard  to 
form,  but  often  with  remarkable  skill  in  the  utilization  of  the  col- 
ors in  the  stone.  So  great  is  the  variety  of  tints  of  color  in 
which  the  material  is  found  that  there  is  scarcely  a  limit  to  its 
possibilities  for  such  purposes.  Bernardino  de  Sahagun  refers  to 
iztac  chalchihuitl,  white  or  fine  green,  and  quite  transparent, 
obtained  from  quarries  in  the  vicinity  of  Tecalco,  which  Dr. 
Daniel  G.  Brinton  *  believes  to  be  the  modern  Tecali ;  and  the  de- 
scription and  locality  answer  so  well  to  those  of  our  so-called 
Mexican  onyx  that  there  can  scarcely  be  a  doubt  that  this  was 
referred  to  by  Sahagun  as  iztac  chalchihuitl. 

In  the  summer  of  1888,  William  Cooper,  of  Esperanza, 
discovered  in  the  volcano  of  Zempoaetepetl,  in  southern  Mex- 
ico, a  deposit  of  a  beautiful  mineral,  which  has  received  the  trade 
name  of  mosaic  agate ;  this  is  really  the  so-called  Mexican 
onyx.  It  is  an  aragonite,  with  the  difference,  however,  that 
the  latter  is  always  veined  or  stratified,  whereas  the  new  material 
is  a  brecciated  or  "ruin  aragonite."  The  original  formation 
has  evidently  been  entirely  broken  up,  the  fragments  having  been 
cemented  together  and  the  crevices  all  filled  in  with  a  new  depo- 
sition of  aragonite,  showing  conclusively  that  a  deposit  of  Mexi- 
can onyx  had  been  fractured  by  some  disturbance,  possibly  vol- 

1  Science,  Vol.  12,  p.  168,  Oct.  5,  1888. 


302 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES 


canic,  and  that  a  subsequent  deposition  of  the  material  cemented 
it  into  its  present  form.  Like  aragonite,  it  is  susceptible  of  a 
high  polish,  the  difference  between  the  two  being  that  in  the 
onyx  the  straight  bands  of  color  of  the  aragonite  are  broken  and 
disseminated  throughout  the  mass,  making  its  general  effect  even 
more  pleasing  and  brilliant  than  that  of  the  latter.  It  can  easily 
be  cut  into  thin  slabs,  and  makes  beautiful  tops  for  ornamental 
tables  and  bureaus.  It  is  often  cut  into  solid  columns  and  used 
for  pedestals  for  busts  or  statuary. 

Specimens  of  a  very  remarkable  amber  have  occasionally 
been  brought  by  travelers,  for  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years, 
from  some  locality  in  southern  Mexico.  The  only  information 
gained  concerning  it  is  that  it  is  brought  to  the  coast  by  natives, 
who  say  that  it  occurs  in  the  interior  so  plentifully  that  it  is  used 
by  them  for  making  fires.  The  color  of  this  amber  is  a  rich 
golden-yellow,  and  when  viewed  in  different  positions,  it  exhibits 
a  remarkable  fluorescence,  similar  to  that  of  uranine,  which  it  also 
resembles  in  color.  A  specimen  in  the  possession  of  Martius  T. 
Lynde  measures  4x3x2  inches,  is  perfectly  transparent,  and  is 
even  more  beautiful  than  the  famous  so-called  opalescent  or  green 
amber  found  in  Catania,  Sicily.  This  material  would  be  extremely 
valuable  for  use  in  the  arts. 

Amber  was  formerly  used  as  incense  by  the  Aztecs,  and 
fragments  have  been  found  on  the  altars  of  ancient  temples,  also 
in  the  Catholic  churches  in  early  Mexico. 


71"  *3S^\  •••f\2VTX~  TlV-^J1*  *4fV 


CHAPTER     XV. 


Aboriginal  Lapidarian  Work  in  North  America. 


-pHIS 

pr 

ar 

-^^-  or» 


chapter  may  seem  out  of  place  in  a  treatise  on 
precious  and  ornamental  stones,  yet  the  chipping  of  an 
arrow-point,  the  grinding  and  polishing  of  a  groove  in 
an  axe-head,  the  drilling  of  a  bead  or  tube  or  an  ear- 
ornament,  all  are  done  by  the  application  of  the  same  lapidarian 
methods  that  are  practised  to-day  by  cutters  of  agates  or  precious 
stones.  The  cutter  of  to-day,  with  a  hammer,  chips  into  shape  the 
crystal  or  piece  of  agate  before  it  is  ground ;  and  there  is  lit- 
tle difference  between  the  ancient  method  of  drilling  and  that  of 
the  present.  The  stone  bead  of  ancient  time  was  drilled  from  both 
ends,  the  drill  holes  often  overlapping,  or  not  meeting  as  neatly 
as  by  the  modern  method  of  drilling  from  one  end. 

The  old  way  of  drilling  is  still  practised  in  the  East,  where 
the  primitive  bow-drill  is  used  by  lapidaries  to-day  precisely  as  it 
has  been  used  by  savage  tribes  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  though 
producing  at  different  periods  different  qualities  of  work.  .  No- 
where was  its  use  better  understood  than  in  ancient  Greece  and 
Rome,  where  by  its  means  were  engraved  the  wonderful  intaglios 
and  cameos  which  now  grace  our  museums,  and  which  have  never 
been  surpassed  in  any  period  of  the  world's  history.  For  the  spe- 
cial use  of  gem  engraving,  the  bow-drill  has  been  replaced  by  a 
horizontal  lathe,  which,  however,  does  not  allow  the  freedom  of 


304 


GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES   IN    THE 


touch  or  softness  of  feeling  which  artists  attained  by  the  use  of  the 
bow-drill.  The  instrument  known  as  the  dental  drill  is  really  an 
improved  form  of  bow-drill,  working  much  more  rapidly.  An 
S.  S.  White  dental  engine,  provided  with  a  suitable  series  of  drill- 
points,  answers  every  purpose,  and  has  been  found  especially 
useful  in  exposing  fossils  and  minerals  when  covered  with 

rock,  the  objects  being  opened  with 
great  rapidity,  with  little  danger  of 
injury.  As  shown  by  the  author  in  a 
paper  on  a  new  method  of  engrav- 
ing cameos  and  intaglios,1  an  artist 
could  be  so  trained  to  the  use  of  this 
improved  bow-drill  as  to  attain  the 
same  softness  and  feeling  developed 
by  the  old  lapidarian  masters. 

In  the  ancient  specimens  of  work, 
tubes  from  which  a  core  had  been 
drilled  out  by  means  of  a  reed  and 
sand,  revolved  by  the  hand  (see  Fig. 
1 8),  were  done  as  neatly  as  anything 
can  be  done,  the  reason  being  that  the 
object  was  entirely  drilled  from  end 
to  end.  This  method  of  drilling  is 
still  practised,  except  that  the  hollow 
reed  is  replaced  by  the  diamond  or 
steel  drill.  When  a  valuable  stone  is 
being  drilled,  a  sheet  of  steel  or  a 
thin  iron  tube  is  substituted  for  it. 
The  polishing  and  grinding  now  is 
done  on  rapidly  revolving  disks,  hori- 
zontal or  lay  wheels,  as  they  are  called,  whereas,  formerly,  the 
slow  process  of  rubbing  with  the  hand  on  board  or  leather  was 
perhaps  resorted  to.  No  lapidary  can  do  finer  work  than  that 
shown  by  the  obsidian  objects  from  Mexico  (see  Illustration),  the 
labrets,  and  the  ear-ornaments,  which  are  even  more  highly 
polished,  though  no  portion  of  the  circle  is  thicker  than  -£?  of 
an  inch.  An  obsidian  coyote  head  in  the  Blake  Collection  in 

1  Trans.  N.  Y.  Acad.  Sci.,  Vol.  3,  p.  105,  June,  1884,  also  Jeweler's  Circular,  June,  1884. 


FIG.  18. 

PRIMITIVE  METHOD  OF  DRILLING  A  HARD  STONE 
WITH   A   REED   AND   SAND. 


UNITED  STATES,    CANADA   AND    MEXICO 


305 


the  United  States  National  Museum  is  a  large  ornament  6 
inches  across,  highly  polished,  and  bored  through  the  center. 
The  spear-points  and  hoes  from  East  St.  Louis  and  other 
parts  of  Missouri  and  Illinois,  and  beautiful  sacrificial  knives — 
notably  the  immense  knife,  18  inches  in  length,  in  the  Blake 
Collection  of  the  United  States  National  Museum  (see  Illustra- 
tion), and  the  one  in  the  Ethnological  Museum  at  the  Trocadero 
in  Paris — show  the  greatest  skill  in  chipping. 


IftfBtU  co. 

NORTH      CAROLINA 


FIG.  IQ. 
BANNER-STONE   OF   FERRUGINOUS   QUARTZ. 


Many  of  the  aboriginal  stone  objects  found  in  North  Amer- 
ica and  elsewhere  are  marvels  of  lapidarian  skill  in  chipping, 
drilling,  grinding,  and  polishing.  Few  lapidaries  could  dupli- 
cate the  arrow-points  of  obsidian  from  New  Mexico,  or  those 
of  jasper,  agate,  agatized  wood,  and  other  minerals  found  along 
the  Willamette  River,  Oregon.  No  lapidary  could  drill  a 
hard  stone  object  truer  than  some  of  the  banner-stones  (see 
Fig.  19),  tubes,  and  other  objects  made  of  quartz,  greenstone, 
and  granite  that  have  been  found  in  North  Carolina,  Georgia, 
and  Tennessee,  or  make  anything  more  graceful  in  form 


306  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS   STONES   IN     THE 

and  general  outline  than  are  some  of  the  quartz  discordal 
stones  found  in  these  same  States.  These  latter  objects 
are  often  from  4  to  6  inches,  and  occasionally  7  inches,  in 
diameter,  ground  in  the  center  until  they  are  of  the  thinness  of 
paper  and  almost  transparent,  and  the  great  regularity  of  the  two 
sides  would  almost  suggest  that  they  had  been  turned  in  a  lathe. 
This  may  have  been  accomplished  by  mounting  a  log  in  the  side 
of  a  tree  so  that  it  would  revolve,  and  cementing  the  stones  with 
pitch  to  the  end  of  the  log,  as  a  lapidary  would  do  to-day  at 
Oberstein,  Germany,  or  by  allowing  the  shaft  of  the  lathe  to  pro- 
trude through  the  side  of  the  log,  and  cementing  the  stone  to  be 
turned  on  this.  The  Egyptian  wood-turner  at  work  in  the  Rue 
du  Caire,  at  the  World's  Fair  held  in  Paris  during  1889,  might, 
with  his  lathe,  polish  a  large  ornament  of  jade  for  jadeite,  like 
the  masks,  idols,  tablets,  and  other  objects  found  in  Mexico  and 
Central  America,  or  the  jade  knives  from  Alaska,  in  the  United 
States  National  Museum. 

Numerous  descriptions  have  appeared  of  the  chipping — or 
rather  arrow-making — of  aboriginal  lapidarians.  Caleb  Lyon  de- 
scribes a  California  Indian  of  the  Shasta  tribe,  whom  he  had  seen 
making  arrow-heads  of  obsidian. 

"  The  Indian,"  he  says,  "  seated  himself  on  the  floor,  and 
placing  a  stone  anvil  upon  his  knee,  which  was  of  compact  talcose 
slate,  with  one  blow  of  his  agate  chisel  he  separated  the  obsidian 
pebble  into  two  parts,  then  giving  another  blow  to  the  fractured 
side  he  split  off  a  slab  a  fourth  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  Holding 
the  piece  against  the  anvil  with  thumb  and  ringer  of  his  left  hand, 
he  commenced  a  series  of  continuous  blows,  every  one  of  which 
chipped  off  fragments  of  the  brittle  substance.  It  gradually  as- 
sumed the  required  shape.  After  finishing  the  base  of  the  ar- 
row-head (the  whole  being  only  a  little  over  an  inch  in  length)  he 
began  striking  gentler  blows,  every  one  of  which  he  expected 
would  break  it  into  pieces.  Yet  such  was  their  adroit  applica- 
tion, his  skill  and  dexterity,  that  in  little  over  an  hour  he  pro- 
duced a  perfect  obsidian  arrow-head.  Among  them  arrow-mak- 
ing is  a  distinct  trade  or  profession,  which  many  attempt,  but  in 
which  few  attain  excellence." 

1  Bulletin  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society,  vol.  I,  p.  39,  New  York,  1861. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  307 

Another  method  of  arrow-making  practised  by  the  Califor- 
nia tribes  is  mentioned  by  Edward  E.  Chever  in  an  article  *  in 
which  is  illustrated  the  implement  used  in  the  process.  "  The 
arrow-head,"  he  says,  "  is  held  in  the  left  hand,  while  the  nick  in 
the  side  of  the  tool  is  used  as  a  nipper  to  chip  off  small  frag- 
ments. This  operation  is  very  curious,  both  the  holder  and  the 
striker  singing,  and  the  strokes  of  the  mallet,  given  exactly  in  time 


FIG.   20. 
PRIMITIVE     METHOD     OF     CLIPPING    FLINT. 


with  the  music,  and  with  a  sharp  and  rebounding  blow,  in  which, 
the  Indians  tell  us,  is  the  great  medicine  (or  mystery)  of  the  opera- 
tion. Every  tribe  has  its  factory  in  which  these  arrow-heads  are 
made,  and  in  those  only  certain  adepts  are  able  or  allowed  to  make 
them  for  the  use  of  the  tribe." 

Arrow-heads  of  glass,  flint,  obsidian,  or  similar  substances 

1  American  Naturalist,  vol.  4,  p.  139,  May,  1870. 


308  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

have  been  made  by  a  number  of  our  modern  archaeologists,  and 
a  series  is  now  in  the  United  States  National  Museum. 
The  process  consists,  first,  in  chipping  off  a  thick,  suitable  flake, 
then  pressing  against  one  of  the  sides  a  bone  object  (nothing 
better  than  the  handle  of  a  tooth-brush)  until  a  small  nick  is 
made  in  the  side.  Each  pressure  makes  a  nick,  and  the  flake  is 
constantly  reversed  so  that  the  nicks  are  alike  on  both  sides. 
With  a  little  practise,  any  one  can  make  a  fairly  good  arrow- 
point.  Dr.  F.  Capitan,  of  Paris,  exhibited  in  the  liberal  arts  sec- 
tion of  the  World's  Fair  held  in  Paris  during  1889,  in  connection 
with  a  collection  of  flint  cores,  flakes,  and  fragments  illustrating 
the  manipulation  of  the  material  in  the  palaeolithic  age,  models 
of  two  wax  hands,  the  left  holding  a  hammer  stone,  the  right 
the  flint  core  (see  Fig.  20),  thus  giving  a  graphic  illustration 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  flints  were  chipped. 

The  Oregon  arrow-points  are  examples  of  the  highest  degree 
in  stone  chipping  attained  by  savages,  and  they  often  afford  gem 
material  so  that  the  demand  for  them  as  articles  of  jewelry  is  not 
surprising.  They  are  not  now  made  by  Oregon  Indians  and  are 
only  sparingly  found.  They  may  be  picked  up  in  certain  districts, 
after  a  heavy  freshet.  Large  quantities  were  formerly  found  in 
Oregon  City  ;  one  dealer  there  is  said  to  have  sold  40,00x3  during 
the  past  ten  years  and  fully  50,000  have  been  found  there  in  that 
time,  which  were  sold  for  at  least  $6,000.  Originally  their  price 
was  from  five  to  fifty  cents  each,  but  the  present  scarcity  has 
increased  it  to  $i,  or  $5  for  exceptionally  fine  ones,  which  are 
usually  made  of  rock  crystal ;  flesh-colored,  red,  yellow-brown,  or 
mottled  jasper  ;  obsidian ;  variously  colored  chalcedony ;  or  agat- 
ized  wood.  They  are  sold  principally  in  the  East,  as  scarcely 
any  are  used  in  Oregon  for  jewelry.  Many  thousands  are  in  the 
collections  of  Prof.  Othniel  C.  Marsh  of  Yale  College,  New 
Haven,  and  of  James  Terry  at  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History  in  New  York  City,  and  they  can  be  seen  in  all  of  our  bet- 
ter collections.  In  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia, 
beautiful  arrow-points  of  pellucid  rock  crystal  or  transparent  and 
smoky  quartz  are  occasionally  found.  Some  of  these  are  two 
inches  long.  A  beautiful  rock-crystal  knife,  which  was  found  at 
Wind  River,  Ariz.,  was  exhibited  at  the  World's  Fair  held  in 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND     MEXICO 


309 


Paris  during  1889.  In  this  connection  see  also  three  papers  by 
Charles  Rau,  "  Drilling  in  Stone  without  the  Use  of  Metals, 
Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  for  1868,"  "Ancient 
Aboriginal  Trade  in  North  America,  Report  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution  for  1872";  and  "  The  Stock  in  Trade  of  an 
Aboriginal  Lapidary,  Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution 
for  1878."  (See  also  Chapter  on  Mexico,  page  284.) 


CHAPTER    XVI. 


Definitions,  Imports,  and  Production,  Values,  Cutting  of  Diamonds   and  Other  Stones, 

Watch  Jewels,  Collections  of  Gems,  Minerals,  and  Jade,  Uses  of  Precious 

and  Ornamental  Stones  for  the  Ornamentation  of   Silver, 

and  Furniture  and  for  Interior  Decoration, 

Trilobite   Ornaments. 


WHAT  is  a  precious  stone?       The  answer  to  this 
question  is  not  easy,  for  the  value  of  a  particu- 
lar kind  of  stone  is  often  due  in  great  measure 
to  the  caprice  of  fashion,  or  to  some  adventi- 
tious circumstance  of  time  or  place ;  and  some  stones  that  are  to- 
day of  small  value  have,  during  certain  periods  in  the  past,  almost 
displaced  the  diamond  or  the  ruby  in  public  estimation.     Beauty 
of  color,  hardness,  and  rarity  are  the  essential  qualities  which  en- 
title a  mineral  to  be  called  precious.     Strictly  speaking,  the  only 
precious  stones  are  the  diamond,   ruby,  sapphire,  and   emerald, 
though  the  term  is  often  extended  to  the  opal,  notwithstanding 
its  lack  of  hardness,  and  to  the  pearl,  which  is  not  a  mineral  but 
strictly  an  animal  product. 

Popularly,  a  gem  is  a  precious  or  semi-precious  stone,  espe- 
cially when  cut  or  polished  for  ornamental  purposes.  Mineralogi- 
cally,  the  term  designates  a  class  or  family  of  minerals  '  hard 
enough  to  scratch  quartz,  without  metallic  lustre,  but  generally 
brilliant  and  beautiful,  and  includes  the  semi-precious  or  fancy 
stones  (called  pierres  de  fantaisie  by  the  French),  such  as  the 
chrysoberyls,  alexandrites,  tourmalines,  spinel,  and  topaz.  Ar- 
chseologically,  the  term  is  restricted  to  engraved  stones,  such  as 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES  311 

intaglios  and  cameos.     The  term  jewel  is  applied  to  a  gem  only 
after  it  has  been  mounted. 

The  epithet  phenomenal  has  been  applied  in  this  work  to 
stones  which  exhibit  a  play  of  color,  like  the  opal,  moonstone, 
sunstone,  and  labrador  spar ;  or  which  change  their  color  by  ar- 
tificial light,  like  the  alexandrite  ;  or  show  a  line  or  band  or 
bands  of  light,  as  the  line  in  the  cat's-eye  and  the  star  in  the 
ruby  or  sapphire  asteria. 

Public  interest  in  semi-precious  stones  has  increased  greatly 
during  the  last  ten  years.  Formerly  jewelers  sold  only  diamonds, 
rubies,  sapphires,  emeralds,  pearls,  garnets,  and  agates,  but  at 
present  it  is  not  unusual  to  have  almost  any  of  the  mineralogical 
gems,  such  as  zircon,  asteria  or  star  sapphire  or  star  ruby,  tourma- 
line, spinel,  or  titanite,  called  for,  not  only  by  collectors,  but  by  the 
public,  whose  taste  has  advanced  in  the  matter  of  precious  stones 
as  well  as  in  the  fine  arts.  Ten  years  ago  $100,000  was  an 
unusual  amount  for  even  the  wealthiest  to  have  invested  in 
diamonds  :  to-day  there  are  a  number  of  families  each  owning 
diamonds  to  the  value  of  half  a  million  dollars.  Ear-rings  worth 
from  $5,000  to  $8,000  a  pair  excite  no  wonder  to-day :  formerly, 
they  were  seldom  seen.  Of  the  French  crown  jewels  sold 
in  Paris,  May,  1886,  more  than  one-third,  aggregating  over 
$500,000  in  value,  came  to  the  United  States. 

Three  diamonds  are  owned  in  this  country  weighing  55^,  77, 
and  125!  carats  respectively;  the  latter,  known  as  the  Tiffany 
diamond,  is  the  handsomest  large  yellow  diamond  ever  found. 
A  number  of  necklaces  worth  over  $100,000  each  are  owned 
in  the  United  States,  and  one  necklace,  worth  $320,000,  was 
recently  sold  at  the  death  of  its  owner.  Among  other  diamonds 
worthy  of  note  that  'are  owned  in  the  United  States  are  four 
of  the  Mazarins l  from  the  French  crown  jewels,  and  a  diamond 
that  belonged  to  the  Empress  Catharine  of  Russia.  Besides 
these,  there  is  one  single  stone  weighing  25^!  carats,  valued  at 
$45,000 ;  a  ruby  of  9!  carats,  worth  over  $33,000,  and  a  number 

1  In  the  inventory  of  the  French  crown  jewels,  1791,  mention  is  made  of  "  the  tenth  Mazarin." 
Cardinal  Mazarin  had  fostered  the  diamond -cutting  industry  in  Paris,  and  the  diamonds  called 
"  Mazarins  "  are  supposed  either  to  have  belonged  to  him  originally  or  to  have  been  recut  under 
his  direction.  All  of  the  ten  Mazarins,  however,  were  not  found. 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

of  rubies  worth  over  $10,000  ;  white  pearls  worth  from  $5,000  to 
$i  1,000  each  ;  black  pearls  worth  over  $6,000  each  ;  pearl  neck- 
laces worth  from  $20,000  to  $100,000  each ;  an  emerald  worth  over 
$12,000  ;  and  half  a  dozen  families  at  least  own  jewels  which  rank 
in  value,  as  regards  intrinsic  worth,  with  those  belonging  to  some 
of  the  royal  and  imperial  families  of  Europe,  differing  only,  per- 
haps, in  quality  ;  as  perfect  stones  were  bought  by  the  Americans, 
whereas  the  regal  jewels  depend  to  some  extent  for  their  value 
on  historic  association. 

The  expression  first  water,  when  applied  to  a  diamond, 
denotes  that  it  is  free  from  all  trace  of  color,  blemish,  flaw,  or 
other  imperfection,  and  that  its  brilliancy  is  perfect.  It  is, 
however,  frequently  applied  to  stones  not  quite  perfect,  but  the 
best  that  the  dealer  has,  and  they  may  be  of  only  second 
quality.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  value  a  diamond  by  its  weight 
only.  Color,  brilliancy,  cutting,  and  the  general  perfection  of 
the  stone  have  all  to  be  taken  into  account.  Of  two  stones,  both 
flawless,  and  of  the  same  weight,  one  may  be  worth  $600,  and 
the  other  $12,000.  Exceptional  stones  often  bring  unusual 
prices,  while  off-colored  stones  sell  for  $60  to  $100  a  carat,  re- 
gardless of  size.  The  poor  qualities  have  depreciated  so  much 
in  value  that  some  are  worth  only  from  one-tenth  to  one-fourth 
what  they  were  worth  twenty  years  ago.  This  is  specially  true 
of  large  stones  of  the  second  or  third  quality.  To  show  the 
variation  of  diamonds  in  value,  the  following  may  be  instanced. 
Four  of  the  Mazarins  were  appraised  in  1792  by  the  commission 
appointed  at  that  time,  and  the  price  at  which  they  were 
estimated,  and  the  price  paid  for  them  in  1887  by  dealers,  to  be 
re-sold,  were  as  follows : 

WEIGHT  (CARATS)  l  APPRAISAL  PRICK  REALIZED 

28  T^  $50,OOO                                        $31,000 

24  f£  40,OOO                                           25,600 

22  £  32,OOO                                           l6,2OO 

Owing  to  the  absorption,  by  the  DeBeers  Mines  of  South 
Africa,  of  nearly  all  the  African  mines,  to  such  an  extent  that 
these  mines  produce  twenty-nine  thirtieths  of  all  the  diamonds 
mined  to-day,  cut  diamonds  advanced  fully  one  quarter  in  price 

1  The  carat  used  was  the  international  carat.     See  p.  14. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  313 

during  the  last  months  of  1889;  and  as  mining  must  now  be 
carried  to  greater  depths,  involving  a  higher  cost,  the  price 
is  likely  to  be  maintained,  if  not  advanced. 

IMPORTS  OF  DIAMONDS  INTO  THE  UNITED  STATES. — From 
the  customs  import-lists,  after  deducting  the  approximate  value  of 
cut  stones  other  than  the  diamond,  we  find  that  import  duty  was 
paid  on  about  $120,000,000  worth  of  cut  diamonds  in  the  last 
twenty-four  years,  of  which  $90,000,000  worth  were  imported  dur- 
ing the  last  twelve  years.  I  n  1 868  $  i  ,000,000  worth  were  imported, 
and  about  $  i  ,200,000  worth  in  1 86  7,  but  about  $  1 1 ,000,000  in  1888, 
and  the  same  amount  in  1889,  or  ten  times  as  many  in  the  latter 
year  as  twenty  years  previous,  showing  the  increase  of  wealth 
and  the  great  popularity  of  the  diamond  among  Americans,  the 
previous  figures  representing  the  import  prices,  exclusive  of 
mounting  or  dealers'  profits.  A  single  firm  at  present  sells 
yearly  more  than  the  annual  import  of  1867. 

Diamond  dust  worth  $464,905  has  been  imported  since  1878, 
$289,430  worth  from  1868  to  1878,  and  in  1869  to  1871  only  $228 
worth  ;  but  the  first  year  after  the  opening  of  the  Kimberley 
Mines,  $80,707  worth  was  imported,  showing  one  of  the  great 
benefits  the  arts  received  from  the  opening  of  the  great  South 
African  diamond  mines. 

In  1878  the  importations  of  uncut  diamonds  amounted  to 
$63,270,  in  1887  to  $262,357,  showing  that  four  times  as  many 
diamonds  were  cut  in  1887  as  in  1878,  though  the  importations 
were  falling  off.  The  total  for  the  decade  was  $2,728,214,  while 
in  1883  there  were  imported  $443,996  worth,  in  1888  $322,356 
worth,  and  in  1889  $191,341.  The  falling  off  in  importation  is 
partly  because  in  the  years  since  1882  a  number  of  jewelers,  who 
had  opened  diamond-cutting  establishments,  either  gave  up  or 
sold  that  branch  of  business  ;  for,  in  spite  of  the  protective 
duty  of  10  per  cent,  on  cut  stones,  cutting  cannot  be  profitably 
carried  on  unless  on  a  scale  large  enough  to  enable  a  partner  to 
reside  in  London,  the  great  market  for  rough  diamonds,  in 
order  to  take  advantage  of  every  fluctuation  in  the  market,  and 
purchase  large  parcels,  to  be  cut  immediately  and  converted  into 
cash  as  fast  as  they  are  sold. 

DIAMOND-CUTTING. — This  industry  is  now  carried  on  in  the 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 


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316  GEMS   AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

United  States  much  more  extensively  than  ever  before,  but  it 
has  not  always  proved  profitable.  London  is  the  great  market 
for  diamonds  in  the  rough,  and  diamonds  are  sold  so  soon  after 
arrival  there,  and  the  competition  of  the  cutters  of  continental 
Europe  is  so  keen,  that  Americans,  who  have  not  such  ready  ac- 
cess to  the  market,  cannot  always  make  a  profitable  purchase  ; 
moreover,  the  recent  consolidation  of  the  larger  mines  has  placed 
the  control  of  the  price  of  rough  diamonds  in  a  few  hands.  The 
trade,  therefore,  has  in  many  cases  been  given  up,  and  among 
the  successful  dealers  the  standard  of  merit  has  been  raised  until 
to-day  the  finest  cutting  is  done  in  the  United  States.  A  large 
part  of  the  work  done  here  consists  in  cutting  fine  material,  in 
recutting  old  stones  that  were  valued  in  Europe  for  weight  only, 
or  in  improving  modern  work,  and  these  branches  are  generally 
profitable.  But  even  with  a  protective  duty  of  10  per  cent,  on 
cut  gems  (a  higher  rate  would  encourage  smugglers),  it  is  im- 
probable that  the  work  of  the  great  foreign  cutting-centres  can 
be  rivalled  in  this  country,  since  the  demand  is  for  fine  material, 
and  large  parcels  of  rough  stones  seldom  yield  more  than  10  per 
cent,  of  the  best  quality. 

Henry  D.  Morse,  of  Boston,  was  the  first  to  cut  diamonds 
in  this  country,  and  the  best  cutters  in  the  United  States  to-day 
received  their  training  under  him.  Educating  in  this  art  young 
Americans,  both  men  and  women,  was  not  his  greatest  work,  for 
he  showed  that  diamond-cutting,  which  had  so  long  been  monop- 
olized by  the  Hollanders,  was  degenerating  in  their  hands  into  a 
mere  mechanical  trade.  He  studied  the  diamond  scientifically, 
and  taught  his  pupils  that  mathematical  precision  in  cutting 
greatly  enhanced  the  beauty  and  consequently  the  value  of  the 
gem ;  and  his  artistic  sense,  sound  judgment,  and  keen  percep- 
tion enabled  him  to  carry  the  art  to  a  degree  of  perfection  not 
often  attained.  His  treatment  of  the  diamond  gave  a  great  im- 
petus to  the  industry  both  here  and  abroad,  shops  being  opened, 
both  in  this  country  and  in  London,  in  consequence  of  his  suc- 
cess. In  his  shop  a  machine  for  cutting  diamonds  was  invented, 
that  did  away  in  a  great  measure  with  the  tediousness  and  inac- 
curacy of  the  old  manual  process.  Thanks  to  his  labors,  there 
are  now  in  the  United  States  some  of  the  best  cutters  in  the 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  317 

world, — men  who  can  treat  the  diamond  as  it  should  be  treated 
in  order  to  develop  its  greatest  beauty.  The  fact  that  so  many 
fine  stones  have  been  recut  here  led  to  a  great  improvement 
abroad  in  cutting,  especially  in  the  French  Jura  and  in  Switzer- 
land, where  both  sexes  are  now  employed  at  that  trade  ;  and,  as 
a  result,  diamonds  sold  to-day  are  better  than  those  of  twenty 
years  ago.  Mr.  Morse,  above  all  others,  has  shown  that  diamond- 
cutting  is  an  art,  and  not  an  industry. 

There  are  at  present  about  twelve  diamond-cutting  establish- 
ments in  this  country,  employing  from  one  to  fifty  men  each,  in 
all  about  a  hundred,  at  salaries  ranging  from  $20  to  $50  a  week. 
Most  of  the  cutting  done  is  of  a  high  class,  some  shops  being 
almost  entirely  employed  in  recutting  stones  previously  cut 
abroad.  Ten  years  ago  nearly  all  the  diamonds  used  in  the 
United  States  were  purchased  through  brokers  or  importers  : 
now,  owing  to  the  marvelous  growth  of  the  diamond  business 
here,  and  the  facilities  for  transatlantic  travel,  some  of  the  large 
retail  houses  buy  their  diamonds  direct  in  the  European 
markets,  and  in  more  than  one  instance  have  established  branches 
or  agencies  abroad. 

AGATE  CUTTING. — In  cutting  large  surfaces  of  hard  materials, 
such  as  agate,  jasper,  and  quartz,  no  better  work  has  been  done 
than  that  of  the  Drake  Company  of  Sioux  Falls,  South  Dak. 
Agate-cutting,  as  already  stated,  has  been  carried  on  for  over  three 
hundred  years  in  the  Oberstein  district  in  Germany.  But  little 
attention,  however,  has  been  paid  to  the  cutting  of  large 
masses,  because  no  agates  are  found  over  a  foot  in  diameter,  and 
the  banding  is  not  such  as  to  offer  any  inducement  for  polishing. 
Perfected  methods  for  sawing  and  polishing  such  material  have 
resulted  from  experiments  recently  conducted1  by  the  Drake 
Company.  They  have  undertaken  the  preparation  of  agatized 
wood  for  the  market,  and  have  succeeded  in  producing  a 
large  number  of  columns  from  8  to  12  inches  wide,  and  2  to  3 
feet  high,  cut  transversely  across  the  tree,  so  that  the  heart 
is  visible  on  two  sides,  with  radiations  in  all  directions ;  they  also 
cut  sections  measuring  respectively  13,  17,  24,  and  25  inches  in 
diameter,  and  so  highly  polished  that  when  turned  with  the  back 

JEng.  and  Min.  Jour.,  Vol.  45,  p.  214,  March  24,  1888. 


318  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

to  the  light,  they  form  perfect  mirrors.  All  the  specimens  are 
brilliant  in  color  and  rival  any  work  ever  done  in  hard  mate- 
rial. One  of  the  finest  sections  of  an  agatized  trunk  was  sent  to 
New  York  in  the  autumn  of  1888.  It  measured  40^  by  34  inches 
on  the  top,  was  36  inches  high,  and  weighed  2\  tons.  The 
top  was  four  months  undergoing  the  process  of  grinding  down 
and  polishing;  it  is  a  deep,  rich  red,  yellow,  black,  mottled 
and  variegated,  and  beautifully  polished.  This  is  probably  the 
finest  piece  of  hard-stone  polishing  that  has  been  done  in  the 
United  States.  The  company  has  removed  from  the  forest  180 
tons  of  material,  and  20  tons  of  sections  have  been  ground  down 
to  show  its  characteristic  beauty.  The  process  is  briefly  as  fol- 
lows :  The  faces  of  the  rough  sections  are  irregular,  and  must  be 
worn  down  to  a  smooth  surface.  To  accomplish  this  they  are 
set  in  circular  form  in  what  is  known  as  the  "  Drake  Beds," 
about  ten  feet  in  diameter,  composed  of  various-sized  sections  of 
the  material  set  by  the  use  of  a  spirit  level,  in  order  to  secure  an 
even  face.  They  are  then  cemented  together,  and  large  slabs  of 
Sioux  Falls  quartzite  are  attached  to  two  arms  of  a  powerful  ver- 
tical shaft.  These  large,  flat  stones,  which  are  almost  as  hard  as 
the  silicified  wood  and  extend  the  full  length  of  the  arms,  are  re- 
volved about  the  bed  by  a  stream  of  water,  with  crushed  quartz- 
ite reduced  to  the  size  of  a  pea.  The  silicified  wood,  being 
tougher  than  quartzite,  soon  wears  grooves  in  these  large  stones, 
which  are  frequently  reversed,  and  sometimes  discarded  for  new 
ones.  This  initial  stage  of  the  work  continues  for  nearly  forty 
hours,  when  the  quartzite  stones  are  replaced  by  large  sections  of 
the  silicified  trees,  which  have  been  previously  worn  upon  the 
bed,  and  these  are  revolved  sometimes  for  one  week,  sometimes 
for  two  weeks,  and  fed  with  sand  of  quartzite  until,  by  abrasion 
rather  than  cutting,  a  face  is  disclosed  on  the  bed,  which,  for  the 
first  time,  indicates  the  true  colorings  and  quality  of  the  material. 
From  these  beds,  each  of  which  requires  about  thirty  horse-power 
when  doing  the  best  work,  the  specimens  are  taken  up,  and  re- 
bedded  on  a  car  thirty  feet  long  and  eight  feet  wide.  The  success 
of  the  operation  depends  upon  the  exactness  of  face  of  the  differ- 
ent pieces.  This  car  moves  by  cogs  and  concentric  rings,  the  out- 
ermost of  which  is  six  feet  in  diameter,  revolving  at  forty  revolu- 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  3IQ 

tions,  and  here  is  continued  the  sand  quartzite  feed,  in  order  to  wear 
down  any  irregularity  of  resetting  upon  the  car.  This  operation 
usually  lasts  for  two  days,  when  the  bed  is  cleansed,  and  diminu- 
tive globules  of  chilled  shot-iron  are  rolled  under  the  rings.  Then 
follows  treatment  with  emery,  beginning  with  the  coarser  grade 
and  ending  with  the  finer.  After  a  week  of  this  work,  the  bed 
is  thoroughly  washed,  the  rings  removed,  and  large  wheels,  made 
from  blocks  of  bass-wood  clamped  together,  presenting  a  rough 
surface  by  being  set  across  the  grain  of  the  wood,  are  placed  in 
position.  The  speed,  both  in  the  movement  of  the  car  and  of 
the  wheel,  is  now  increased,  and  tin  oxide  is  used  to  burnish  the 
surface,  which  is  brought  to  a  mirror-like  finish  by  means  of  trip- 
oli,  fed  to  felt-covered  wheels,  that  are  revolved  at  the  rate  of 
300  revolutions  a  minute. 

The  cutting  and  carving  of  rock  crystal  now  done  in  the 
United  States,  even  the  cutting  of  crystal  balls,  vases,  cups,  and 
vials,  is  equal  to  work  produced  anywhere,  as  the  vials,  bonbon 
boxes,  and  clock  exhibited  at  the  Paris  Exposition  in  1889  by 
Messrs.  Tiffany  &  Co.  fully  demonstrated.  Much  of  the 
cutting  of  precious  stones,  such  as  ruby,  sapphire,  emerald, 
and  garnet,  is  of  the  highest  order.  Sards,  bloodstones,  and 
other  cheap  agates  are  often  cut  abroad  to  a  uniform  size  for 
mounting,  because  it  costs  less  to  fit  the  stone  to  the  mounting 
than  the  mounting  to  the  stone,  and  such  stones  as  are  found 
here  are  generally  cut  in  this  country. 

WATCH  JEWELS. — About  1,200,000  watches  with  jeweled  works 
are  annually  manufactured  in  the  United  States,  requiring  about  1 2,- 
000,000  jewels,  seven  to  twenty-one  for  each  watch  ;  of  these  5,000,- 
ooo  are  ruby  and  sapphire,  and  7,000,000  are  garnet  jewels,  valued 
at  over  $300,000.  Most  of  them  are  imported,  but  the  Waltham 
Company  does  its  own  cutting,  employing  about  200  hands.  About 
15,000  carats  of  diamond  in  the  form  of  bort,  are  used  annually 
in  slitting  and  drilling  these  jewels.  Nearly  all  the  ruby, 
sapphire,  and  garnet  used  for  jewels  are  imported,  but  it  is 
hoped  that  American  materials  will  soon  be  used.  To  be  of 
value  for  this  purpose,  the  material  must  not  only  be  flawless, 
but  also  be  of  some  decided  shade  of  red  or  blue,  and  of  a  hard- 
ness greater  than  that  of  quartz. 


320 


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UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO 


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322  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

COLLECTIONS. — One  of  the  first  collections  of  precious  stones 
formed  in  the  United  States  was  that  begun  early  in  the  century 
by  J.  R.  Cox  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  whose  cabinet 
in  1860  passed  into  the  possession  of  Prof.  Joseph  Leidy,  of  Phil- 
adelphia, who  continued  adding  to  it  until  1880.  At  that  time 
it  comprised  221  lots,  and  was  then  considered  the  finest  collection 
in  the  United  States,  the  specimens  all  having  been  chosen  with 
great  care  and  scientific  accuracy.  The  cabinet  was  offered  for 
sale,  but  failed  to  find  a  purchaser  and  was  disposed  of  to  a  dealer, 
who  soon  scattered  the  fruits  of  over  half  a  century's  patient 
gathering  among  his  customers. 

Dr.  Lewis  Feuchtwanger,  of  New  York,  was,  in  1838,  an  au- 
thority on  precious  stones,  and  his  book1  was  one  of  the  first  to 
be  written  on  the  subject  in  the  United  States.  During  his  long 
residence  in  this  country,  he  made  an  interesting  and  valuable 
collection  of  minerals,  fossils,  and  gems,  many  of  the  latter  being 
fine  specimens,  but  it  has  not  been  sold,  and  is  in  the  possession 
of  his  daughters.  Moving  has  greatly  damaged  this  collection, 
which  originally  included  nearly  900  specimens ;  it  was  placed  on 
sale  in  1874,  and  for  a  time  was  deposited  in  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York. 

A  remarkable  and  most  interesting  collection  was  made  by 
Dr.  Isaac  Lea,  of  Philadelphia,  who  died  in  December,  1886. 
This  eminent  scientist  for  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  long  life 
devoted  much  time  to  the  study  of  microscopic  inclusions  in 
gems  and  minerals.  The  cabinet  bequeathed  by  him  to  his 
daughter  contains  thousands  of  specimens  of  rubies,  sapphires 
chrysoberyls,  tourmalines,  garnets,  quartz,  and  other  stones, 
each  specimen  labelled,  and  generally  accompanied  by  a  draw- 
ing, showing  the  interesting  inclusions.  His  extensive  bibliogra- 
phy includes  several  papers  on  inclusions  in  precious  stones.2 

The  finest  known  collection  of  precious  stones,  and  the  finest 
collection  of  those  found  in  the  United  States,  is  the  one, 

1  A  Treatise  on  Gems,  in  Reference  to  their  Practical  and  Scientific  Value.  A  useful  guide 
for  the  jeweler,  lapidary,  artist,  amateur,  mineralogist,  and  chemist.  Accompanied  by  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  most  interesting  American  gems  and  ornamental  and  architectural  materials.  (New 
York,  1838.  Subsequent  enlarged  editions  appeared  in  1859  and  in  1872. 

JProc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  of  Philadelphia,  vol.  21  pp.  4  and  119,  1869,  and  vol.  28, 
p.  98,  1876. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  323 

presented  by  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  to  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History,  Central  Park,  N.  Y.  This  collection,  which 
contains  over  one  thousand  specimens  of  all  the  obtainable  pre- 
cious and  ornamental  stones  native  to  the  United  States,  and 
some  of  the  finest  known  examples  of  foreign  stones,  was  prepared 
with  the  assistance  of  the  author  by  Messrs.  Tiffany  &  Co.,  and  was 
exhibited,  under  his  charge,  at  the  World's  Fair  held  in  Paris  in 
1889,  before  a  larger  number  of  people  than  were  ever  before 
gathered  within  a  given  time  at  any  one  place.  (See  Colored 
Plate  i,  Figs.  E  and  H  ;  Plate  3,  Figs  F  and  K  ;  Plate  5,  Fig.  D ; 
Plate  6,  Fig.  C  ;  Plate  7,  Fig.  B.)  It  occupied  a  circular  case  in 
the  center  of  the  American  Section,  and,  with  the  collection  of 
pearls  found  in  North  America,  gained  the  award  of  two  gold 
medals.  The  collection,  of  which  a  catalogue  was  published,1 
was  a  central  point  of  attraction  in  the  exhibit,  was  visited 
by  leading  scientists,  lapidaries,  stone-workers,  and  decorators, 
as  well  as  the  general  public. 

Among  benefits  resulting  from  the  New  Orleans  Exposi- 
tion held  1884-1885  was  the  appropriation  to  the  United  States 
Museum  to  perfect  its  exhibit  there.  This  money  was  expended 
by  Prof.  Frank  W.  Clarke,  the  curator  in  mineralogy,  in 
the  purchase  of  a  very  complete  series  of  precious  and  orna- 
mental stones,  many  of  which  are  of  great  value  from  an  ed- 
ucational point  of  view.  Since  the  Exposition,  numerous  fine 
specimens  have  been  added  by  purchase  and  donation,  notably 
the  171  diamonds  and  150  pearls  presented  by  the  Imam 
of  Muscat  to  President  Van  Buren,  all  of  which  are  of  good 
quality.  The  collection  now  numbers  about  a  thousand  spec- 
imens, and  includes  examples  of  almost  every  known  variety 
of  precious  stones,  many  of  them  being  remarkably  good 
specimens. 

At  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  Central  Park,  New  York, 
are  the  Curium  gems,  brought  by  Gen.  Luigi  P.  di  Cesnola  from 
the  island  of  Cyprus.  Some  of  these  were  described  in  his  volume 
on  Cyprus, '  and  are  on  exhibition  with  the  Cesnola  Collection. 

1  Catalogue  of  a  Collection  of  Precious  and  Ornamental  Stones  of  North  America,  p.  32,  8vo, 
New  York,  1889. 

2  Researches  and  Discoveries  in  Cyprus.     (New  York,  1878.) 


324  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN   THE 

A  full  description  of  them  was  prepared  by  the  Rev.  C.  W.  King, 
of  Trinity  College,  England,  the  greatest  of  all  writers  on 
engraved  gems ;  this  has  never  been  published,  but  Mr. 
King's  numerous  writings  mark  an  epoch  in  the  study  of  this 
branch  of  archaeology.  His  collection  of  antique  gems,  number- 
ing 331  pieces,  is  the  summary  of  Mr.  King's  vast  knowledge, 
and  none  has  ever  been  more  thoroughly  studied.1  It 
was  sent  to  the  United  States  for  sale  in  1881,  and  in  October, 
through  the  friendly  mediation  of  Gaston  L.  Feuardent,  it  was 
purchased  and  presented  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art 
by  John  Taylor  Johnston,  then  president  of  the  Museum. 
Near  it  is  deposited  the  Sommerville  Collection.  Maxville 
Sommerville,  during  thirty-two  years  passed  in  Europe,  Asia, 
and  Africa,  collected  cameos,  intaglios,  seals,  and  other 
historical  gems,  and  as  a  result  of  his  liberal  expenditure 
of  time  and  money  is  to-day  the  owner  of  one  of  the  most  unique 
and  valuable  collections  of  engraved  gems  in  the  world.  It  num- 
bers over  1,500  objects,  including  specimens  of  Egyptian,  Persian, 
Babylonian,  Etruscan,  Greek,  Roman,  Aztec,  and  Mexican  glyp- 
tic or  jewel-carving  art  of  singular  excellence,  affording  a  pano- 
ramic view  of  the  achievements  of  civilized  man  in  this  direction. 
Descriptive  of  his  remarkable  collection,  Mr.  Sommerville  has 
just  published  an  illustrated  catalogue.8  It  is  hoped  that  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  New  York,  will  become  the 
permanent  owner  of  the  collection. 

Of  greater  antiquity,  and  of  great  archaeological  value,  be- 
cause representing  a  period  before  gems  were  cut  in  the  form  of 
intaglios,  is  the  collection  of  the  Rev.  W.  Hayes  Ward,  consist- 
ing of  300  Babylonian,  Persian,  and  other  cylinders.  Two  hun- 
dred, collected  by  himself  in  Babylon  and  its  vicinity,  during  the 
Catharine  Wolfe  Exploration,  were  sold  to  the  Museum  at  a 
nominal  figure.  Since  that  time,  he  has  collected  100  more 
cylinders,  many  of  which  date  from  2500  B.  C.  to  300  B.  C., 
and  are  made  of  lapis  lazuli  (the  sapphire  of  the  ancients),  agate, 
carnelian,  hematite,  and  chalcedony. 

1  See  Antique  Gems  and  Rings,  by  C.  W.  King,  2  vols.     (London,  1872.) 

2  Engraved  Gems  :  Their  History  and  an  Elaborate  View  of  Their  Place  in  Art.  4(0,  pp.  777, 
plates  104.     (Philadelphia,  1889.)     Printed  by  the  Author. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  325 

The  private  collection  of  Clarence  S.  Bement,  of  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  numbering  12,000  specimens  of  choice  and  carefully  selected 
minerals,  is  the  finest  in  the  United  States,  and  is  exceeded 
in  magnitude  and  excellence  by  only  one  or  two  collections  of 
foreign  museums.  The  high  standard  of  all  the  specimens  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Bement  purchased  from  more  than  a 
dozen  collections,  one  the  largest — not  his  own — in  the 
country.  The  collection  is  remarkable  for  its  magnificent  series, 
all  in  their  natural  state,  of  emeralds  and  sapphires,  from  North 
Carolina ;  its  Colorado  and  Mexican  topaz ;  its  very  fine  series 
of  garnets  from  Chester  County,  Pa.,  and  other  American 
localities ;  its  sets  of  rutiles  from  Graves  Mountain,  Ga. 
Magnet  Cove,  Ark.,  Alexander  County,  N.  C,  and  Vermont. 
It  also  contains  a  unique  series  of  quartz  specimens  from  every 
American  locality ;  brown,  black,  and  white  tourmaline  from 
northern  New  York,  and  the  green,  red,  and  blue  varieties  from 
Maine ;  and  some  of  the  finest  known  crystals  of  green  microcline 
(amazonstone)  from  Pike's  Peak,  Col.,  and  Amelia  County,  Va. 
In  fact,  nearly  all  the  gem  minerals,  both  American  and  foreign, 
are  fully  represented  in  this  cabinet  in  their  native  state,  although 
Mr.  Bement  says  he  is  not  a  gem  collector.1 

Dr.  Augustus  C.  Hamlin,  of  Bangor,  Me.,  owns  a  collection, 
the  nucleus  of  which  was  formed  in  1826  by  Elijah  J.  Hamlin. 
It  includes  nearly  all  the  precious  stones  found  at  Mount  Mica 
and  other  tourmaline  localities  in  Maine,  and  contains  several 
thousand  crystals  of  every  possible  shade  of  color  from  white  to 
pink,  red,  blue,  green,  yellow,  to  black,  including  some  of  the 
finest  known  specimens  of  rubellites,  achroites,  and  other  varie- 
ties of  tourmalines,  also  some  fine  foreign  gems.  Dr.  Hamlin 
has  published  two  works  on  precious  stones.8 

Frederick  Stearns,  of  Detroit,  and  Thomas  T.  Bouve,  of 
Boston,  Mass.,  have  excellent  collections  of  precious  stones, 
which,  while  not  specially  valuable,  are  still  full  and  representa- 
tive as  regards  species  and  varieties.  Augustus  Lowell,  of  Boston, 

1  See  Prof.  Gerhard  von  Rath's  descriptive  article  on  this  collection  in  the  Verhandlungen 
Des  Naturh.  Vereins  d.  Preuss.  Rheinl.  u.  Westf.,  1884,  pages  295-304,  of  which  an  abstract  by 
the  author  was  published  in  the  Jeweler's  Circular  for  January,  1886. 

2  The    Tourmaline.       (Boston,    1875.)      Leisure     Hours    Among     the    Gems.      (Boston, 
1884.) 


326  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

has  some  superb  fancy  colored  diamonds,  sapphires  and  other 
interesting  precious  stones. 

Judge  Henry  Hilton,  of  New  York  City,  owns  the  finest 
collection  of  colored  diamonds  in  the  United  States,  ninety-seven 
in  number,  including  many  shades  of  brown,  yellow,  green, 
pink,  and  other  colors.  Mrs.  T.  N.  C.  Lowe,  of  Norristown,  Pa., 
has  an  extensive  collection  of  precious  and  fancy  stones,  and 
Mrs.  M.  J.  Chase,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  some  exceptionally  choice 
and  rare  specimens  in  her  cabinet. 

Among  the  fine  collections  containing  interesting  gem 
specimens,  to  some  of  which  reference  has  been  made,  may  be 
mentioned  the  magnificent  cabinet  of  Yale  University,  formed  in 
the  early  part  of  the  century,  which  contains  the  well-known 
Gibbs  collection ;  the  Tenney  tourmalines ;  and  in  the  same 
building,  Peabody  Museum,  the  private  collection  of  Prof.  George 
J.  Brush ;  the  Harvard  University  collection  at  Cambridge, 
Mass.;  the  collection  of  the  School  of  Mines,  Columbia  College, 
New  York  City ;  that  of  Cornell  University,  at  Ithaca,  N.  Y., 
which  contains  the  Silliman  Cabinet ;  of  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, at  Ann  Arbor,  containing  the  collection  of  the  late  Baron 
Lederer,  one  of  the  finest  and  most  complete  private  collections 
known ;  incorporated  with  it  is  the  famous  Blum  Collection ; ' 
that  of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore;  of  the  Academy 
of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  building  with  it, 
the  magnificent  cabinet  of  the  late  William  S.  Vaux.  At  Hamilton 
College,  Clinton,  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  is  the  Root  Collection, 
and  also  the  collection  of  Prof.  Albert  H.  Chester;  at  Union  Col- 
lege, Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  the  collection  of  the  late  Charles  M. 
Wheatley ;  at  Amherst  College,  Amherst,  Mass.,  the  collection  of 
Charles  U.  Shepard  and  others.  The  State  Cabinet  at  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  contains  the  Emmons  Collection  among  others,  as  well  as 
a  neat  case  of  precious  and  ornamental  stones.  The  cabinet 
of  Prof.  Thomas  Egleston  of  New  York,  is  one  of  the  finest 
crystallographical  collections  in  the  United  States,  and  contains 
many  unique  and  choice  crystals  of  Russian  and  other  gem 
minerals.  The  Canfield  Collection,  formed  by  the  father  of  the 

1  Dr.  Blum,  of  Heidelberg,  was  the  author  of  works  on  precious  stones,  minerals,  and 
pseudomorphs. 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  327 

present  owners  over  forty  years  ago,  and  containing  many  of  the 
finest  New  Jersey  and  southern  New  York  specimens,  in 
addition  to  others  equally  choice,  is  at  Dover,  N.  J.,  the 
William  W.  Jefferis  collection  at  West  Chester,  Pa.,  the 
mineralogical  collection  of  the  University  of  Minnesota  at 
Minneapolis,  and  the  cabinet  of  the  State  Mining  Bureau  at 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 

The  foreign  museums  which  contain  the  best  American 
specimens  are  the  British  Museum  in  London  (the  finest  mineral- 
ogical collection  in  the  world),  the  Austrian  Imperial  Mineral  Cabi- 
net at  Vienna ;  and  the  collections  of  the  Jardin  des  Plantes  and 
of  the  Ecole  des  Mines  in  Paris.  During  the  last  ten  years,  the 
disposition  to  collect  jade  and  other  hard,  carved  stone  objects 
has  greatly  increased,  especially  in  the  United  States,  owing  to 
the  stimulus  given  by  the  World's  Fairs,  at  Philadelphia,  Paris, 
and  Amsterdam,  and  the  breaking  up  by  sale  of  many  of  the 
large  collections.  In  December,  1889,  a  number  of  fine  objects 
was  furnished  by  American  collectors  to  fill  four  large  cases  for  a 
Loan  Exhibition  at  the  Union  League  Club,  New  York  City. 
The  value  of  carved  jades,  outside  of  China  and  India,  cannot 
be  less  than  $2,000,000.  In  the  United  States  there  are, 
perhaps,  less  than  a  dozen  buyers,  who  have  purchased  $500,000 
worth  of  this  material.  Many  of  the  pieces  are  among  the 
finest  known,  such  as  the  private  seal  and  other  objects  of 
the  Emperor  of  China,  taken  at  the  sacking  of  the  summer  pal- 
ace by  the  Chinese  themselves,  after  it  had  been  looted  by  the 
British  and  the  French.  The  pieces  brought  by  Tien  Pau 
to  Paris  included  some  of  the  finest  work  that  ever  left  China : 
they  were  intended  for  the  Amsterdam  Exposition.  The  choic- 
est specimens  of  the  Wells,  Guthrie,  Michael,  and  Hamilton  Pal- 
ace collections  are  now  owned  in  the  United  States  ;  and  expe- 
rienced agents  have  been  frequently  sent  to  India  and  China  to 
secure  the  finest  objects  as  they  presented  themselves.  Even 
during  the  year  1889,  a^ter  tne  famine  in  China,  a  buyer 
securing  a  number  of  objects  of  priceless  value. 

Jade  collectors  may  be  divided  into  those  who  collect 
oriental  jade,  and  those  who  collect  archaeological  jade. 

Among  the  principal  collectors  in  this  country  are  Heber  R. 


328  GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES    IN    THE 

Bishop,  Brayton  Ives,  William  C.  Oastler,  John  Harper,  Samuel 
P.  Avery,  Charles  Stewart  Smith,  Edward  G.  Low,  Thomas  B. 
Clarke,  James  W.  Ellsworth,  and  James  A.  Garland,  of  New 
York  ;  Samuel  M.  Nickerson  and  Potter  Palmer,  of  Chicago  ; 
William  T.  Walters,  of  Baltimore  ;  Frederick  Ames,  Dr.  Bigelow, 
and  Quincy  Shaw,  of  Boston.  There  is  a  good  collection  at  the 
Peabody  Museum,  Yale  College,  gathered  and  bequeathed  by 
Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams,  formerly  Secretary  of  Legation  at 
Pekin,  and  author  of  the  standard  work  on  China,  "  The  Middle 
Kingdom."  Of  foreign  collectors  who  have  a  notable  quantity 
of  jade  objects,  there  are  Alfred  Morrison,  of  London ;  Messrs. 
Bing  and  Gentian  and  Vicomte  de  Samalle,  of  Paris.  The 
Louvre  and  the  Musee  de  Fontainebleau  contain  some  specimens 
of  great  interest,  and  the  South  Kensington  Museum  has  quite  a 
large  and  valuable  collection. 

Explorations  in  Alaska  have  brought  to  light  the  fact  that 
jade  was  used  by  the  natives  of  Alaska  for  making  implements  ; 
almost  conclusive  proof,  also,  has  been  offered  to  show  that  it  is 
found,  not  only  as  boulders,  but  in  place.  The  United  States  Na- 
tional Museum  at  Washington  ;  the  Emmons  Collection,  and  that 
of  James  Terry  in  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History  ; 
the  Everett  Collection  ;  the  Peabody  Collection,  at  Cambridge, 
Mass. ;  the  collections  in  the  Canadian  Geological  Survey  at 
Ottawa,  and  the  Peter  Redpath  Museum,  McGill  College,  Mon- 
treal, Can. ;  the  Dresden  Collection  ;  the  Freiberg  Collection,  at 
Baden  ;  and  others,  including  the  writer's  own,  contain  several 
hundred  objects  made  from  this  very  interesting  material  found 
in  Alaska  and  British  Columbia. 

For  nearly  ten  years  fresh-water  pearls,  jade,  rock  crystal, 
rhodonite,  and  other  stones  have  been  used  in  the  decoration  of 
high-class  silverware  and  some  examples  were  shown  at  the 
World's  Fair,  held  in  Paris  during  1889. 

Taste  in  household  decoration  in  the  United  States  has  of 
late  attained  a  high  standard,  and  any  new  idea  that  has  been 
applied  elsewhere  is  at  once  made  use  of.  Minerals  as  yet  have 
been  only  slightly  utilized  because  they  have  not  been  thoroughly 
understood,  and  because  of  the  absence  of  any  accepted  method 
of  so  applying  them  as  to  avoid  inappropriateness.  Ruskin,  the 


UNITED    STATES,    CANADA    AND    MEXICO  329 

eminent  art  critic,  approves  of  the  application  of  precious  stones 
to  the  decoration  of  fine  furniture,  for,  as  he  says,  "  furniture  can 
be  made  to  last  indefinitely,  and  hence  is  worthy  of  the  highest 
artistic  effects."  Instances  of  the  use  of  precious  stones  for  dec- 
orative purposes  are  more  common  in  Europe  and  the  East  than 
on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  famous  peacock  throne  of  India, 
looted  by  Nadir  Shah,  the  Persian  conqueror,  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  is  estimated  to  have  contained  millions  of  dollars'  worth 
of  precious  stones.  Even  now  the  altars  of  the  Catholic  and 
Greek  churches  throughout  the  world  are  often  gorgeously  dec- 
orated. The  new  palace  in  Potsdam,  built  by  Frederick  the 
Great,  after  the  Seven  Years'  War,  to  show  that  the  financial  re- 
sources of  Prussia  were  not  exhausted,  contains  an  apartment 
the  walls  of  which  are  covered  with  minerals  and  precious  stones, 
offering,  perhaps,  the  most  unique  example  of  this  style  of 
decoration.  The  pair  of  rosewood  pedestals  with  silver  panels 
made  for  Mrs.  Mary  Jane  Morgan,  at  a  cost  of  over  $2,000,  were 
greatly  improved  in  appearance  by  the  application  of  a  number  of 
pieces  of  red,  jaspery  agate  from  Texas,  cut  en  cabochon.  Gold 
quartz  has  been  used  with  pleasing  effect  in  fine  furniture  and 
small  ornaments,  especially  in  California.  Its  rich  colors,  its 
hardness,  and  the  beautiful  polish  of  which  it  is  susceptible  give 
to  the  agatized  wood  of  Arizona  many  advantages  for  inlaid 
work,  and  judging  from  the  reception  it  met  with  at  the  World's 
Fair  of  1889,  it  will  probably  soon  be  used  extensively  in 
furniture  and  interior  decoration.  Other  cheap  and  ornamental 
stones,  such  as  jasper,  turquoise,  rose-quartz,  and  amazonstone, 
might  be  introduced  with  advantage  into  inlaid  work  on  clocks, 
mantels,  and  fine  furniture.  The  employment  of  rock  crystal 
for  hand-glasses,  crystal  balls,  and  similar  articles  is  treated  in  the 
chapter  on  quartz.  One  of  the  new  departures  in  the  United  States 
in  the  uses  made  of  common  stones  has  been  the  introduction  of 
the  so-called  Scotch  jewelry  ;  the  designs  were  greatly  improved, 
and  native  gem  stones  were  used  to  such  an  extent  that  this  jew- 
elry found  a  ready  sale,  displacing  many  of  the  cheaper  varieties 
of  gold  and  silver  pins.  Among  the  minerals  that  have  been  so 
employed  are  agate,  moss  agate,  jasper  of  all  colors,  rhodonite, 
pyrite,  labradorite,  and  moonstone.  The  designs  used  are  crowns, 


330 


GEMS    AND    PRECIOUS    STONES 


knots,  thistles,  shepherds'  crooks,  nails,  horse-shoes,  crescents, 
daggers,  keys,  spears,  umbrellas,  and  many  like  shapes.  In 
1880,  thousands  of  so-called  mineral  clocks,  each  in  a  plain 
wooden  case,  usually  in  the  form  of  a  house,  completely  covered 
with  specimens,  about  an  inch  square,  of  pyrite,  galenite,  amazon- 
stone,  ores  from  celebrated  mines,  and  other  Colorado  minerals, 
were  made.  The  minerals  are  glued  on,  each  bearing  a  number 
referring  to  a  list  of  the  minerals  on  the  back  of  the  case.  The 
interior  consists  of  common  Connecticut  clock-work.  Fully 
$15,000  worth  have  been  annually  disposed  of.  This  form  of 
decoration  has  also  been  applied  to  paper-weights,  inkstands,  and 
a  large  number  of  objects. 

The  fossils  known  as  trilobites,  which  are  found  in  various 
parts  of  the  United  States,  are  used,  when  fossilized,  or  curled 
up  into  proper  forms,  as  charms,  scarf-pins,  and  other  ornaments. 
Most  of  those  employed  for  such  purposes  are  procured  from 
the  vicinity  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  from  near  Covington,  Ky. 
The  species  of  trilobite  used  is  principally  Calymene  senaria,  which 
is  generally  found  curled  up,  evidently  in  dying,  and  therefore 
appears  either  round  or  slightly  oval  in  form,  making  a  very 
suitable  charm  or  an  ornament  for  a  scarf-pin.  They  vary 
in  size  from  \  inch  to  2  inches  in  diameter,  and  are  sold  at  from 
twenty-five  cents  to  $5.00  each,  according  to  beauty  and  per- 
fection. The  casts  of  the  Calymene  senaria,  variety  blumen- 
bachii,  if  entirely  flattened  out  and  perfect  in  form,  have  been 
worn  as  scarf-pins.  As  they  are  pure  limestone,  the  surface  is 
generally  covered  with  thousands  of  brilliant  microscopic  crystals 
of  calcite,  that  glitter  beautifully  in  the  sunlight. 


INDEX. 


PACK 

ABALONE  SHELL 236 

Abalone  shell,  fishing  for.  237 
Aboriginal  lapidarian  work 

in  North  America 303 

Academy  of  Natural  Sci- 
ences, Philadelphia  col- 
lection, 47,  177,  194, 

2O I 26O 

Achroite 66,71,73,     77 

Actinolite 204,  205 

Adularia  feldspar 163 

Adze,  jadeite 278 

Agalmatolite 273 

Agate,  128,  129,  130, 131, 
132,  134,  137,  263,  276, 

287 3°S 

Agate  chalcedony 107 

Agate,  cutting  of 317 

Agate,  mosaic 301 

Agate,  moss,  131, 132,  133,  265 

Agate,  opal 297 

Agate,  wood 135 

Agatized  bones 132 

Agatized  trees 132 

Agatized  wood,   138,  141,  305 

Alaska  rock  crystal 109 

Albite 162,  163,  268 

Aldrovandi  mask 65 

Alexandrite 95,     97 

Allanite 156 

Almandine,  analysis  of.  . .     84 
Almandine  garnets  78,  81, 

82 260 

Amazonstone 165,  267 

Amazonstone,  analyses  of .    1 66 

Amber 199,  302 

Amber,  analyses  of 203 

American  Museum  of  Nat'l 

History,  112,  195,  308,  328 
American   pearls,   deriva- 
tion of,  218,  225,  239, 

250 256 

Amethyst,  1 06,   113,   127, 

258,  262,  263 287 

Amethyst  from  Lake  Su- 
perior   115 

Amethyst,   localities  of..    113 

Amethyst  Mountain 139 

Amethyst,  Oriental 39 


Amherst    College     Col'n 

45,49,51,  72,202,  273,  325 
Analyses  of  almandine.  . .  84 
Analyses  of  amazonstone  .  166 

Analyses  of  amber 203 

Analyses  of  andalusite  ...  171 
Analyses  of  andradite ....  85 
Analyses  of  aventurine  or- 

thoclase 164 

Analyses  of  azurite 196 

Analyses  of  beryllonite.  . .   190 

Analyses  of  beryl 96 

Analyses  of  cassiterite.  . .  191 
Analyses  of  catlinite  ....  209 
Analyses  of  chondrodite.  170 
Analyses  of  chrysoberyl .  98 
Analyses  of  chlorastrolite  181 
Analyses  of  chrysolite. . .  102 
Analyses  of  colophonite.  85 
Analyses  of  corundum .  .  49 

Analyses  of  cyanite 176 

Analyses  of  danburite. . .  158 
Analyses  of  diopside. ...  151 

Analyses  of  epidote 157 

Analyses  of  fluorite 183 

Analysis  of  gahnite 52 

Analyses  of  garnet ....  84,  85 
Analyses  of  grossularite  . .  84 
Analysis  of  hercynite  ....  52 

Analyses  of  iolite 159 

Analyses  of  jade 173 

Analyses  of  labradorite. . .    165 

Analyses  of  lazulite 191 

Analyses  of  malachite  . .  196 
Analyses  of  melanite.  ..  85 
Analysis  of  microlite .  ..  189 
Analyses  of  nephrite .  ..172 
Analyses  of  obsidian .  . .  1 70 
Analyses  of  oligoclase  . .  1 68 
Analyses  of  ouvarovite  . .  85 

Analyses  of  opal 143 

Analyses  of  pectolite..  ..  179 
Analyses  of  phenacite  .  . .  101 
Analyses  of  polyadelphite.  85 

Analyses  of  prehnite 180 

Analyses  of  pyrope 84 

Analyses  of  quartz 128 

Analyses  of  rhodonite  ....  152 
Analyses  of  schorlomite. . .  85 


Analyses    of   serpentine, 

187 188 

Analyses  of  smaragdite. . .  150 

Analyses  of  spessartite  ...  84 

Analyses  of  spinels 52 

Analyses  of  spodumene  . .  149 

Analyses  of  sunstone 164 

Analyses  of  thomsonite  ...  182 

Analyses  of  titanite 194 

Analyses  of  tourmaline ...  76 

Analyses  of  topaz 68 

Analyses  of  turquoise.  .58,  64 

Analyses  of  vesuvianite. . .  155 

Analyses  of  willemite  ....  154 

Analyses  of  zircon 105 

Andalusite 171,  176,  269 

Andradite,  analysis  of. ...  85 

Anthracite 204 

Apatite 87, 190,  258,  272 

Apophyllite 271 

Aquamarine 87 

Aquamarine,  localities,  93,  95 

Aragonite 197,  300,  301 

Archaeological     value    of 

rock  crystal 112 

Arizona  diamond  swindle. .  36 

Arkansas  quartz  crystals .  1 10 

Arkansite 194 

Arrow-heads,     133,    135, 

169,  3°5,  307 308 

Arrow-heads  of  obsidian . .  1 68 

Arrow-making 306,  307 

Art      objects      of      rock 

crystal 113,285,  286 

Artificial  coloring  of  tur- 
quoise   59 

Artificial  devices  for  pearl 

production 213,  228 

Artificial  gold  quartz. ...  119 
Asia   Minor,     emery    de- 
posits of. 44 

Asteria 314 

Asteriated  quartz 106 

Aventurine  feldspar..  164,  268 
Aventurine  orthoclase,  an- 
alyses of 164 

Aventurine  quartz. . . .  106,  121 

Axinite 157,  267 

Azurite,  analysis  of 196 


331 


332 


INDEX 


PAGE 

BANNER  STONES 305 

Bartholdi  testimonial....  142 

Basanite 107,  135 

Beekite 107 

Bement,  C.  S.,  collection, 
46,  50,  70,  77,  82,  89, 
90,  94,  99,  125,  148, 
165,  170,  177,  189,  194, 

195,    260 273,  325 

Beryl 87,  204,  259 

Beryl,  analyses  of 96 

Beryl,  blue 91,  92,  95 

Beryl,       largest     in     the 

world 90 

Beryl,  white 94 

Beryl,  yellow 93,  94 

Beryllonite 190 

Black  garnet  (not  melanite)  83 

Black  pearls 224,  225 

Black  tourmaline 77 

Blake  collection,  285,  287, 

300 304 

Blister  pearls 214 

Blood-agate 130 

Bloodstone 107,  135 

Blue  beryls 91,  92,  95 

Bowenite 173,  185,  187 

Brazilian    quartz    crystals 

for  spectacles in 

Brazilian  emerald 73 

Brazilian  topaz 66 

Breastplate,   jadeite 280 

British  Museum  collec- 
tion, 89,  176,  273,  279, 

285,  298 327 

Bronzite 153,  205 

Brookite 194 

Brush,    G.  J.,    collection, 

98>  H3 326 

Byssolite 205 

CACHOLONG 266 

Cairngorm 106,  116,  262 

Calcomalachite 197 

California  diamonds  (?). .  .  24 

California  onyx 197 

California  State  Mining  Bu- 
reau, collection,  28,  n  6,  327 

Canada 258 

Canadian  precious  stones, 

bibliography  of 273 

Canadian  geological  sur- 
vey, collection,  267,273,  328 

Cancrinite 160 

Canfield,  F.  A.  collection, 

154,  165,  170,   181 326 

Carat,  definition  of 14 

Carat,  international 14 

Carnelian,  107,  128,   132,  264 

Cape  rubies 81 

Carbuncles 78 

Cassinite 162 

Cassiterite 191 

Catlinite 205 

Catlinite,  analyses  of 209 

Catlinite,  localities  of,  205,  206 

Cat's-eye 95,  107 


PAGE 

Cat's-eye  minerals 204 

Cave   pearls 197 

Central  America 275 

Ceylonese  moonstone 167 

Chalcedony,  107,128,  129, 

13°.     »3!>     I32>     "33. 

264,    276 287 

Chalcedony  agate 107 

Chalcedony  Park 137 

Chalchihmtl. .  60,  62,  282,  284 
Chase,  Mrs.  M.  J.,  collec- 
tion   94,  326 

Chester,  Mass.,  emery  de- 
posits    42 

Chiastolite 1 75,  269 

Chlorastrolite 180,   181 

Chlormelanite 277 

Chondrodite 170 

Christy  collection,  61,  63, 

279 286 

Chrome   garnet,   78,    86, 

258 261 

Chrysoberyl 97,  204 

Chrysoberyl,  analyses  of. .     98 

Chrysocolla 132,   197 

Chrysolite 97,    101,  269 

Chrysolite,  analyses  of.. . .    102 
Chrysoprase.  .  .  107,    122,  265 

Cinnamon  stone 79 

Citrine 66,   117,  259 

Clam  pearls 233 

Cobaltite 199 

Collection,  Academy  of  Nat- 
ural Sciences,  Philadel- 
phia, 47,  177,  194,  201,  260 
Collection,  American  Mu- 
seum  of  Natural    His- 
tory....112,    195,308,  328 
Collection,    Amherst  Col- 
lege, 45.  49.  S1.  72,202 

273 326 

Collection,  Bement,  C.  S., 
46,  50,  70,  77,  82,  89, 
90,  94,  99,  125,  148, 
165,  170,  177,  189,  194, 

195,  260,   273 325 

Collection,  Blake,  W.  W., 

285,  287,  300 304 

Collection,  Boston  Society 

of  Natural  History 90 

Collection,  Bouve,  T.  T. .  325 
Collection,      British     Mu- 
seum,    89,     176,    273, 

279,  285,   298 327 

Collection,    Brush,  G.  J., 

98»  H3 326 

Collection,  California  State 

Mining  Bureau,  28,  116,  327 
Collection,  Canfield,  F.A., 

154,  165,  170,  181,  326 
Collection,  Cardeza,  Dr.  47 
Collection,  Chase,  Mrs. 

M.  J 94,  326 

Collection,  Christy,  61, 

63,  279 286 

Collection,  Columbia  Col., 

School  of  Mines. .  .273,  326 


Collection,  Cornell  Uni- 
versity   125,  326 

Collection,  Cox,  J.  R. . . .  322 
Collection  Dartmouth  Col- 

ege 124 

Collection,  Douglas,  A.  E..  285 
Collection,  Egleston,  T  . .  326 
Collection,  Ferrier,  W.  G..  273 
Collection,  Feuchtwanger, 

Lewis 322 

Collection,  Free,  Alfred . .     50 
Collection,  Genth,  F.  A . .     47 
Collection,  Geological  Sur- 
vey of  Canada,  267,  273,  328 

Collection,  Goupil,  M 298 

Collection,  Hamilton  Col- 
lege  77,  326 

Collection,  Hamlin,  A.  C., 

73,  94,  148,  288 325 

Collection,  Harvard  Col- 
lege    103 

Collection,  Hilton,  Henry.  326 
Collection,  Hope,  H.  P., 

73 296 

Collection,  Hubbard,  Oli- 
ver P 124 

Collection,  Imperial  Min- 
eralogical  Cabinet,  Vi- 
enna   72,  327 

Collection,  Imperial  Min- 
ing School,  St.  Peters- 
burg    66 

Collections  of  jade 327 

Collections,  jade,  foreign.  328 
Collection,  Jefferis,  W.  W., 

47,  135,  195 327 

Collection,  Johns  Hopkins 
University 170,  326 

Collection,  King,  C.  W  . .   324 

Collection,  King's  Col- 
lege, Nova  Scotia 273 

Collection,  Lea,  Isaac,  47, 

53 322 

Collection,  Leidy,  Joseph, 

37,    47 322 

Collection,  Lowell,  A. ...  325 
Collection,  Lynde,  M.  T., 
93,  181 302 

Collection,  McGill  CoUege, 

Montreal ....  267,  273,  328 
Collection,  Lowe,  T.N.C..  326 
Collection,  Marsh,  O.  C., 

273 3°8 

Collection,  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art,  286, 

323 324 

Collection,  Mexican  Min- 
ing Museum 276 

Collection,  Mexican  Na- 
tional Museum 298 

Collection,  Morrison,  Al- 
fred    181 

Collection,  New  York 
State  Museum,  72,  89, 
91,  109,  113,  114,  116, 
165,  195,  273 326 

Collection,  Palmer,  L.W..     47 


INDEX 


333 


Collection,  Peabody  Mu- 
seum, New  Haven, 
Conn.,  17,  73,  77,  90, 

170 !94 

Collection,  Peabody  Mu- 
seum, arch  seology,  Cam- 
bridge, Mass 326,  328 

Collection,  Provincial  Mu- 
seum of  Nova  Scotia,  273 

Collection,  Roebling,  W. 
A 148 

Collection,  Silliman,  Ben- 
jamin. (See  Cornell). . 

Collection,  Somerville, 
Maxwell 286,  324 

Collection,  Smith  College,  no 

Collection,  Stearns,  F. . .  .   325 

Collection,  Stephenson, 
J.  A.  D 89 

Collection,  Tiffany  &  Co.  's 
at  Paris,  1889 323 

Collection,  Torrey,  John, 

159 196 

Collection,  Trocadero  Mu- 
seum, 285,  286,  298, 

299>    3°° 3°5 

Collection,  U.  S.  National 
Museum,  33,  47,  58,  69, 
74,   86,    90,     92,    104, 
115,  150,  169,  172,  177, 
185,  215,  230,  278,  284, 
285,     287,     298,    300, 
304,    305,     308,    323,  328 
Collection,  Union  College.  326 
Collection,    University    of 

Minnesota 327 

Collection,    University    of 

Michigan 326 

Collection,    University    of 

Pennsylvania 156 

Collection,  Vaux,  W.  S., 
47,  50,  90,  124,  177, 

194,   201 326 

Collection,  Walker,  A.  E..   173 
Collection,    Walker,     Bo- 

gert 109 

Collection,  Ward,  W.  H..  324 
Collection,  Wilcox,  J.  W., 

47,  S3.  I2S 273 

Collection,  Wharton,  J. . .  125 
Collection,    Yale  College, 

92,  171,   185,    326 328 

Collection,  Young,  S.  C . .  50 

Collections,  foreign 327 

Colophonite,  analysis  of...  85 

Color  of  tourmaline 71 

Colorado  sapphires 49 

Colored  pearls 230 

Columbia  College  School 

of  Mines  collection,  273,  326 

Conch    pearls 235 

Conch  shells  for  wam- 
pum    234 

Coral,  fossil 1 98 

Coral,  silicified 122 

Cornell  University  Collec- 
tion, 125 326 


PAGE 

Corundum .  .39,  204,  258,  276 

Corundum,  analysis 49 

Corundum  from  North 

Carolina 40 

Corundum,  genesis  of. .  .  41 

Corundum  in  Georgia ....  44 

Coyote  of  obsidian 304 

Crescents  of  rock  crystal..  286 

Crocidolite 153 

Crown  jewels  of  France . .  311 
Crystals  of  quartz  from 

Brazil  for  spectacles  ...  in 

Curious  shaped  pearls  ...  216 
Cutting  and  polishing 

turquoise 62 

Cyanite 176 

DAMOURITE 70 

Danburite 158 

Datolite 177 

De  Soto,  extracting  pearls 

from  shells  for 244 

Definitions 310 

Delawarite 162 

Demantoid 78 

Demantoids,  Siberian. ...  148 
Derivation  of  American 

pearls 256 

Dewey  diamond 1 6 

Diamond 13,  275,  311 

Diamond,  American 311 

Diamond,  cutting  of 313 

Diamond -cutting    in     the 

United  States 316 

Diamond  dust,  imports  of.  313 
Diamond  from  Dysortville.  20 
Diamond  field  of  South 

Kentucky 15,  31,     32 

Diamond,  properties  of . .      13 
Diamond     swindle,     Ari- 
zona      36 

Diamond,  finding  of 37 

Diamond  from  California.  24 
Diamond  from  Georgia...  21 
Diamond  from  Idaho ....  30 
Diamond,  Lake  George 

109 no 

Diamond  from  Montana. .  30 
Diamond  from  North 

Carolina 17 

Diamond  from  Oregon. . .  29 
Diamond  from  South 

Carolina 21 

Diamond  from  Virginia...      16 
Diamond    from     Wiscon- 
sin      35 

Diamond,  the  genesis  of. .     31 

Diamond  necklaces 311 

Diamond,    occurrence    of 

in  the  United  States 14 

Diamond(so-called)Quebec  261 
Diamond,      South     Afri- 
can  13,     33 

Diaspore 51 

Dichroite 277 

Diopside 151,  270 

Dioptase 1 79 


PAGE 

Discoidal  stones 306 

Discovery   of  the    Queen 

pearl 229 

Divers  for  pearl  oysters  . .  220 
Domiciliares  in  pearl  oys- 
ters  214,  215 

Drilling   hard  stones  and 

shells 304 

Dysortville  diamond 20 

EAR-SHELL 236 

Egyptian  jasper 108 

Elseolite 160,  162 

Emerald 87 

Emerald,  Brazilian 73 

Emerald,  Gibsonville  ....  126 

Emerald,  lithia 147 

Emerald,  Oriental. . .  .39,  46 

Emerald,  Uralian  ...  .78,  148 
Emery   deposits   of    Asia 

Minor 44 

Emery  deposits  of  Ches- 
ter, Mass 42 

Enstatite 153 

Epidote 156,  267 

Epidote,  analyses  of 157 

Essonite . . . .  78,    79,  261,  277 

Essonite,  localities  of    ...  79 

Euclase 100 

Experiments     in      Saxon 

pearl  fisheries 228 

Extracting     pearls     from 

shells  for  De  Soto 244 

FALSE  TOPAZ 107 

Feldspar  group 162,  268 

Feldspar,    adularia 163 

Fire-opals 290,   293,  296 

First  water,  definition  of.  312 

Fishing  for  Abalone shells..  237 
Fleche  d'Amour-rr .  777 . . "  125 

Fluorite 183,   259,  272 

Fluorite,    analyses  of. ...  183 

Formation   of  pearls....  211 

Fossil  coral 198 

Fowlerite 152 

Franklinite 154 

French  crown  jewels  263,  311 

Fresh-water  pearls 225 

GADOLINITE 156 

Gahnite,  analysis  of 52 

Gahnite,  green  spinel ....  51 

Garnet 260 

Garnet,  analyses  of . . .  83,  84 

Garnet,  black 83 

Garnet  group 78 

Garnet,  pyrope 276 

Garnet,  titaniferous 86 

Gem,  definition  of. 310 

Gems  in  the  collection  of 
the  U.  S.  National  Mu- 
seum. (See  Collection.) 

Genesis  of  corundum 41 

Genesis  of  diamonds 31 

Geological  Survey  of  Can- 
ada, collection,  267,  273,  328 


334 

PAGE 

Georgia  corundum 44 

Georgia  diamonds 21 

Geyserites 146 

Gibson ville  emerald 126 

Girasol 287 

Gold  quartz 117,119,  126 

Gold  quartz,  artificial 119 

Gold  quartz,  rose 1 18 

Goshenite 95 

Gsthite 107,126,  163 

Grinding  and  polishing . .  304 

Grossularite 79>  261 

Grossularite,  analysis  of . .  84 

HALIOTIS 236 

Hamilton   College  collec- 
tion  77,  326 

Hamlin,    A.    C.,    collec- 
tion, 73,   94,  148,   288,  325 
Hampden  Emery  Co  ....  45 

Harlequin  opal 287 

Heliotrope 108,  135,  265 

Hematite 192,  269 

Hercynite,  analysis  of. ...  52 
Hiddenite  spodumenes, 

88,  89 147 

History      of       American 

pearls 240 

Hope,  H.  P., collection,  73,  296 

Hornblende  in  quartz. ...  125 

Hornstone 266 

Household  decoration,  use 

of  minerals  in 328 

Humboldt  celt 279 

Hyacinth 78,  79,  103,  259 

Hyaline  quartz 107 

Hyalite 145,  288 

Hydrolites 131 

Hydrophane 144 

ICTHYOPHTHALMITE 271 

Idaho  diamonds  (?) 30 

Idocrase 155,  261,  269 

Ilmenite 271 

Ilvaite ; 270 

Imperial  Mineralogical 

Cabinet,  Vienna, ...  72,  327 

Imports  of  diamonds  ....  313 
Imports  of  precious  stones, 

tables  of 314,  315 

Inclusions,  quartz 124 

Indian  pipes 208 

Indicolite 73,  75,  126 

International  carat 14 

lolite 159,  277 

Isopyre 178 

JACINTH 103 

Jade,  172,  173,  266,  277, 

3°6 327 

Jade  collections 327 

Jade  objects  from  Alaska, 

analyses  of 173 

Jadeite,  153,  172,  173, 

276,  277 286 

Jadeite  adze 278 

Jadeite  breastplate 280 

Jadeite  mask 281 


INDEX 

PAGE 

Jadeite,  origin  of 283 

Jadeite  ornaments 279 

Jargon 103 

Jasper,  108,  123,  133,  134, 
135,  137,  265,  276,  287,  305 

Jasper,  agate 107 

Jasper,  Egyptian 108 

Jasper,  porcelain 105 

Jasper,  Sioux  Falls 123 

Jefferis,    W.    W.,    collec- 
tion  47,  135,   195,  327 

Jet 203,  273 

Jewel,  definition  of 311 

Johns  Hopkins  collection 
170 326 

KENTUCKY,  diamond  field 

of  South 15,  31,  32 

Kieselsinter 146 

King's    College     (N.    S.) 

Collection 273 

Kjoekkenmoeddings 248 

Knives  of  obsidian 298 

Kotchubeite 86 

Kunz  collection  in  Albany  116 

LABRADORITE,    Labrador 

spar....  163,   164,  165,  267 
Labradorite,  analyses  of . .    165 
Lake        George         dia- 
monds, so  called  .  .109,   no 
Lake  Superior  amethyst  .    115 
Lapidarian    work,    litera- 
ture of  aboriginal 309 

Lapidarian  work  in  North 
America,   aboriginal .  . .  303 

Lapis  lazuli 160 

Largest     beryls     in     the 

world 90 

Lazulite 191,  270 

Lea  collection 47,  53,  322 

Lechosos  opals, 287,  291 

Leidy,      Joseph,      collec- 
tion  37,  47,  322 

Lennilite 162 

Leopardite. 167 

Lepidolite 159 

Leyden  plate 279 

Lintonite 180,  181,  271 

Literature    of    aboriginal 

lapidarian  work 309 

Lithia  emerald  spodumene  147 
Localities  of  agate. . .  128,  264 
Localities  of  almandine 

garnet 81,  82,  260 

Localities  of  amethyst  113,  262 
Localities      of      aquama- 
rine  93,     95 

Localities  of  beryl 87 

Localities  of  catlinite .  205,  206 

Localities  of  euclase 100 

Localities  of  essonite. .  79,  261 
Localities  of  gold  quartz . .  1 1 8 

Localities  of  opal 142,  288 

Localities  of  peridot 101 

Localities  of  pyrope  gar- 
net. .  80 


PAGE 

Localities  of  phenacite  ...  98 
Localities  of  smoky  quartz  1 16 
Localities  of  tourmahne,  7 1  260 

Localities  of  topaz 67 

Localities  of  turquoise ....  54 
Localities  of  zircon. .  .103,  259 

Lodestone 192 

Los  Cerrillos  Mines 56 

Lower  California,  pearl 

fisheries  in 218 

Lydian  touch-stone. . .  107,  135 
Lynde,  M.  T.,  collection 

93,  181 302 

McGiLL  COLLEGE  collec- 
tion  267,  273,  328 

Macle 175,  269 

Magic  stone 144 

Mahogany,  mountain,  1 68,  169 
Making  of  arrows  . . .  306,  307 

Malachite 195,  273 

Malachite,  analyses  of.  . .   196 

Marble,  Tecali 283 

Marcasite 199 

Marekanite 168,  299 

Marriott     Mound,      Unio 

pearls  in 227 

Marsh,    O.     C.,     collec- 
tion   273,  308 

Mask,  jadeite 281 

Mask,  turquoise 65 

Mazarin  diamonds 311 

Meerschaum 189 

Melanite,  analysis  of 85 

Melanite  or  black  garnet,  83  261 

Menaccanite 194 

Method      of      extracting 

pearls   in    Saxony 232 

Metropolitan    Museum   of 
Art,  collection,  286, 323,  324 

Mexican  onyx 300 

Mexican   regard  for    tur- 
quoise       62 

Mexico 275 

Microcline 267 

Microlite 167,   189 

Microlite,  analyses  of. ...   189 

Milk  quartz 107,  125,  262 

Millerite 261 

Minerals   that    yield    the 

cat's-eye  effect 204 

Mirror  of  obsidian 299 

Mirror  of  pyrite. 300 

Moldavite 168 

Monazite 271 

Montana  diamond  (?) 31 

Montana  sapphire 48 

Moonstone 162,  163,  268 

Moonstone,  Ceylonese  ...   167 

Morion 107,  262 

Mosaics  of  turquoise 63 

Mosaic  agate 301 

Moss  agate,  131,  132,  133,  265 

Moss  opal 144 

Mountain  mahogany,  168,   169 

Mount  Chalchihuitl 55 

Muller's  glass 145,  288 


INDEX 


335 


PAGE 

Mussels,  pearl-bearing. . .  217 

NATIONAL  MUSEUM,  U.  S., 
collection,  33,  47,  58, 
69,  74,  86,  90,  92,  104, 
115,  150,  169,  172,  177, 
185,  215,  230,  278,  284, 
285,  287,  298,  300,  304, 

305,  308,  323 328 

Natrolite 182,  271 

Nephrite.  .172,   173,266,  277 

Nevada  sapphire 50 

New  Jersey  pearl  find ....  227 
New  York  State  Museum 
collection,    72,  89,  109, 
113,  114,  116,  165,  273,  326 

Nigrine 193 

North   American  aborigi- 
nal lapidarian  work.. . .   3°3 
North  Carolina  corundum     40 
North        Carolina       dia- 
monds        17 

North  Carolina  rock  crys- 
tal   108 

North  Carolina  rubies ....  46 
North  Carolina  zircon.. . .  104 
Novaculite 122 

OBSIDIAN.. 1 68,  268,  297,  307 

Obsidian,  analysis  of 170 

Obsidian  arrow-heads ....    1 69 

Obsidian  coyote 304 

Obsidian  knives 298 

Obsidian  mirrors 299 

Occurrence  of  diamonds  in 

the  United  States 14 

Octahedrite 193 

Oligoclase 163,   167 

Oligoclase,  analysis  of. ...  1 68 
Olivine  (Chrysolite). .  101,  269 

Onyx 108,   130 

Onyx,  Californian 197 

Onyx,  Mexican 300 

Onyx,  sard,  108,  130,  132,  264 

Opal 142,266,  287 

Opal  agate 297 

Opal,  analysis  of 143 

Opal,  fire 290,  293,  296 

Opal,  lechosos 287,  291 

Opal,  localities  of.  ...  142,  288 

Opal,  moss 144 

Opal,  semi 144,  266 

Opal,  wood 135 

Opalized  wood 145 

Oregon  diamonds 29 

Oriental  emerald 39,     46 

Oriental  topaz 39,     66 

Origin  of  jadeite 283 

Origin  of  turquoise  rock. .     37 
Ornamental  uses  of  min- 
erals     330 

Ornamental   uses    of    tri- 

lobites 330 

Orthoclase 162,  164,  268 

Orthoclase  moonstone.  . .  163 
Ouvarovite.  .  .78,  86,  258,  261 
Ouvarovite,  analysis  of . . .  85 


PAGE 

PARISITE 87 

Parasites  in  pearl  oysters.  215 
Peabody  Museum   collec- 
tion,   17,    73,    77,    90, 

170,  194,  326 328 

Pealite 146,  299 

Pearl-bearing  mussels ....  217 
Pearl-find,  New  Jersey.  . .  227 
Pearl-fisheries,         experi- 
ments in  Saxony 228 

Pearl-fisheries    in    Lower 

California 218 

Pearl-oysters,  divers  for . .  220 
Pearl-oysters,  domiciliares 

in 214,  215 

Pearl-oysters,  parasites  in  215 
Pearl-production,  artificial 

devices  for 213,  228 

Pearl,  Queen,  the  discov- 
ery of. 229 

Pearls 211,  312 

Pearls,  black 224,  225 

Pearls,  blister 214 

Pearls,  cave 197 

Pearls,  clam 233 

Pearls,  colored 230 

Pearls,  conch 235 

Pearls,  curious  shaped. . .  216 
Pearls,  derivation  of  Amer- 
ican   256 

Pearls,      extracting    from 

shells  for  De  Soto 244 

Pearls,  formation  of. 211 

Pearls,  fresh-water 225 

Pearls  from   Lower  Cali- 
fornia, value  of  ...  223,  224 
Pearls,   history  of  Ameri- 
can   240 

Pearls  in  Marriott  Mound, 

Unio 227 

Pearls,  method  of  extract- 
ing in  Saxony 232 

Pearls,  perforated 251 

Pearls,  shells  containing ..  213 

Pearls,  size  of  fresh-water.  253 

Pearls,  Unio 216,  225 

Pearls,  value  of  conch . .  236 

Pearls,  value  of  fresh-water  201 

Pectolite 172,   178,  267 

Pectolite,  analyses  of. ...  179 

Pegmatite 165,  268 

Perforated   pearls 251 

Peridot 101,  269 

Peridot  in  meteorites 102 

Peristerite 166,  268 

Perthite 166,  268 

Phenacite 98 

Phenacite,  analysis  of. ...  101 
Phenomenal  gems,  defini- 
tion of 311 

Pipes,  Indian 208 

Pipestone 205 

Pitchstone 170 

Plasma 108 

Polishing  and  grinding. . .  304 

Polyadelphite,  analysis  of.  85 

Porcelain  jasper 108 


PAGE 

Porphyry 268 

Prairie  dog  with  eyes  of 

turquoise 6l 

Prase 107,  I2O,  263 

Precious  stone,   definition 

of 310 

Precious   stones,    imports 

of 3H,  315 

Precious  stones  in  the 
United  States,  produc- 
tion of,  tables 320,  321 

Prehnite 180,  270 

Prochlorite  in  quartz 287 

Production  of  precious 
stones  in  the  Um'ted 

States,  table  of. . .  .320,  321 

Properties  of  beryl 87 

Properties  of  quartz 106 

Properties  of  topaz 66 

Properties  of  diamond  ...  13 

Properties  of  tourmaline. .  70 

Pseudo-nephrite 174 

Pseudomorph  of  turquoise  61 

Pyrite 198,  269,  299 

Pyrite  mirrors 300 

Pyrope  garnet,  78,  80,  81,  276 

Pyrope  garnet,  analysis  of  84 
Pyrope  garnets,   localities 

of 80,  81 

Pyroxene 185,  261,  269 

QUARTZ 106 

Quartz,  analysis  of 128 

Quartz,  artificial  gold. ...  119 

Quartz,  asteriated 106 

Quartz,  aventurine 121 

Quartz,  cut  objects  of. ...  113 
Quartz  crystals  from  Ar- 
kansas   no 

Quartz  crystals,   localities 

of 112,  262 

Quartz,  ferruginous 305 

Quartz,  gold 117,  126 

Quartz,  inclusions 124 

Quartz,  localities  of  gold .  118 

Quartz,  milky..  107,   125,  262 

Quartz,  properties  of. ....  106 

Quartz,  rose. . .  .107, 120,  262 

Quartz,  rose  gold 1 1 8 

Quartz,  rutilated 125 

Quartz,  sapphirine 107 

Quartz,  smoky..  107,  116,  262 

Quartzite 123 

Quebec  diamonds 262 

Queen  pearl,  discovery  of.  229 

Quincite 288 

RHODONITE 151 

Rhodonite,  analysis  of .  . .  152 
Rock  crystal  107, 261,262,  284 
Rock  crystal,  archaeologi- 
cal value  of 112 

Rock  crystal  crescents . . .  286 

Rock  crystal  from  Alaska.  109 
Rock  crystal  from  North 

Carolina 108 

Rock  crystal  skull 285 


336 


INDEX 


Rock  crystal,  cutting  and 

carving 319 

Rose  gold  quartz 1 1 8 

Rose  quartz —  .  107,  120,  262 

Rubellite 72,  73,  74,  75 

Rubies,  cape 81 

Rubies  in  North  Carolina.  46 

Rubies,  value  of  cape. ...  81 

Ruby 39,  276,  311 

Ruin  aragonite 301 

Rutile 192,  271 

Rutilated  quartz 125 

SACRIFICIAL  KNIVES  ....  305 

Sagenite 107,  124,  263 

Sapphire. .  .39,   161,276,  280 

Sapphire,  Colorado 49 

Sapphire,  largest  crystal. .     45 

Sapphire,  Montana 48 

Sapphire,  Nevada 50 

Sapphire,  North  Carolina.     45 

Sapphirine  quartz 107 

Sard 108,   128 

Sardonyx ..  108,  130,  132,  264 

Satin  spar 197 

Saxon  pearl  fisheries,  ex- 
periments in 228 

Saxon  topaz 66,   107 

Scapolite 160,  270 

Schorlomite 86 

Schorlomite,  analysis  of. .     85 

Scotch  topaz 107 

Selenite 197 

Semi-opal 144 

Sepiolite 189 

Serpentine 185 

Serpentine,     analysis     of, 

187 188 

Shell  beads 256 

Shell     heaps     containing 

pearls 248 

Shells  containing  pearls..  213 
Shepard  collection  at  Am- 
herst  College.  (See  Col- 
lection.) 

Siberian  demantoids 148 

Siderite 107 

Silicified  corals 122 

Silicified  trees 140 

Silicified  wood 135,  265 

Silicified        wood,       how 

formed 135 

Silliman  collection  at  Cor- 
nell University 125,  326 

Sioux  Falls  jasper. ......    123 

Size  of  fresh-water  pearls.  253 
Skull  inlaid  with  turquoise     62 

Skull  of  rock  crystal 285 

Smaragdite 44,   150 

Smoky  quartz. ..  107,  116,  262 

Smoky  topaz 116 

Sodalite 160,  270 

South    African  diamonds, 

13 33 

South  Carolina  diamonds .     2 1 

Spanish  topaz 107 

Spear  points 305 


PAGE 

Spessartite 79 

Spessartite,  analysis  of.  . .  83 

Sphaerulite 299 

Sphene 194 

Spinel 50,  259 

Spinel,  analyses  of, 52 

Spinel,  green  gahnite 51 

Spinel,  properties  of 50 

Spinel,  localities  of. 50 

Spodumene 147 

Spodumene,  analyses  of. .  149 

Spodumene,  yellow 150 

Staurolite 177,  269 

Stibnite  in  quartz 126 

Stream  tin 191 

Sunstone 163,  164,  268 

Sunstone,  analysis 164 

TECALI  MARBLE 283 

Theory   of    formation    of 

beryl 88 

Theory   of   formation    of 

silicified  wood 136 

Thetis  hair  stone 126 

Thomsonite 181,  271 

Thomsonite,  analyses  of. .  182 

Titanic  iron 194 

Titaniferous  garnet 86 

Titanite 194,  258,  270 

Titanite,    analyses  of. ...  194 

Topaz 66,  259 

Topaz,  analyses  of 68 

Topaz,  Brazilian 66 

Topaz,  cut 69 

Topaz,  false 107 

Topaz,  localities  of 67 

Topaz,  Oriental 39,  66 

Topaz,  properties  of 66 

Topaz,  Saxon 66,  107 

Topaz,  Scotch 107 

Topaz,  smoky 1 1 6 

Topaz,  Spanish 107 

Torrey,  J.,  collection..  15 9,  196 

Touch-stone 107,  135 

Tourmaline 70,  260 

Tourmaline,  analyses  of...  76 

Tourmaline,  black 77 

Tourmaline,  color  of. ....  71 

Tourmaline,  localities  of. .  71 

Tourmaline,  properties  of.  70 

Trees,  agatized 132 

Trees,  silicified 140 

Trilobites 330 

Trocadero  Museum  collec- 
tion, 285,  286,  298,  299, 

300 305 

Turquoise 54 

Turquoise,  analyses  of .  58,  64 
Turquoise,  artificial  color- 
ing of 59 

Turquoise,     cutting      and 

polishing 62 

Turquoise  district 60 

Turquoise    from    Mineral 

Park,  Ariz 60 

Turquoise,  localities  of . . .  54 

Turquoise  masks 65 


Turquoise,   Mexicans'   re- 

gard  for 62 

Turquoise   mines   at   Los 

Cerrillos 56 

Turquoise  mosaics 63 

Turquoise  Mountain 55 

Turquoise  rock,  origin  of.  5  7 
Turquoise,     pseudomorph 

after  apatite 61 

Turquoise  skulls 61 

Turquoise,  value  of. 63 

U.  S.  NATIONAL  MUSEUM 
COLLECTION,  33, 47, 58, 
69,  74,  86,  90,  92,  104, 
115,  150,  169,  172,  177, 
185,215,230,  278,284, 
285, 287,  298,  300,  304, 

305,  3°8,  323 328 

Unio  pearls. 216,  225 

Unio  pearls  in  Marriott 

Mound 227 

Uralian  emeralds 148 

VALUE  OF  CONCH  PEARLS.  236 
Value  of  fresh-water  pearls  23 1 
Value  of  cape  rubies. ...  8 1 
Value  of  pearls  from  Low- 
er California 223,  224 

Value  of  topaz 69 

Value  of  turquoise 63 

Vaux,  W.  S.,  Col'n,  47,  50, 

90,  124,  177,  194,  201,  326 

Venus  hair  stone 124 

Vesuvianite 155 

Virginia  diamonds 1 6 

WAMPUM 233,  248 

Wampum,    conch     shells 

for 234 

Watch  jewels 261,  319 

Wernerite 270 

White  garnet 258,  261 

Wilcox,  J.  W.,  collection, 

47,  53.  "S 273 

Willemite- 154 

Williamsite 187 

Wilsonite 272 

Wisconsin  diamonds  (?) . .  35 

Wollastonite 153,  260 

Wood  agate 135 

Wood  opal 135 

Wood  tin 191 

XANTHITE 155 

YALE  COLLEGE  COLLEC- 
TION, 92,  171,  185,  326,  328 
Yellow  spodumene 150 

ZINCITE 154 

Zircon 103,  258,  259 

Zircon,  analyses  of. 105 

Zircon,  localities  of 103 

Zircon,  North  Carolina. . .  104 

Zoisite 157 

Zonochlorite 180,  27 1 


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